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BISMARCK
THE TRILOGY OF A FIGHTER
Bismarck
\_SchcrP v BtlJcrtliciis t
BISMARCK
The Trilogy of a Fighter
by
EMIL LUDWIG
Author of “ Kaiser Wilhelm II ”
LONDON & NEW YORK
G, P. PUTNAM’S SONS
First English Edition September 1927
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.
CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WH1TTINGHAM AND GRIGGS (PRINTERS), LTD.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, l ONDON.
Dedicated
to
JULIUS BAB
Moscia, Autumn 1923
PREFACE
After Bismarck’s death in 1898 only two of the
three volumes of his memoirs were published. This
limitation was agreed to in deference to the wishes of
his heirs, although, under the written agreement
which existed, the whole work might have appeared
at that time. It was feared that the third volume,
which dealt with the dismissal of the Chancellor and
the character of Kaiser Wilhelm II, might cause
undesirable controversy, and for this reason the
German nation were then deprived of first-hand
information of great importance about their rulers.
The publishers had announced that they would
issue the third volume on the death of the Kaiser,
and when he suffered political death in 1918, and a
great change had taken place in the views generally
held about him, they printed it. Thereupon the
Kaiser, from his home in Holland, prevented its
publication by claiming copyright in certain un¬
published letters, written by him to Bismarck in his
own hand, which formed part of the book and were
legally his property.
Bismarck, ten years after his death and twenty-
eight after his fall from power, was once more pre¬
vented from revealing the truth and justifying his
position.
At this juncture Herr Emil Ludwig read the
forbidden volume. The embargo seemed to him
absurd, and the need for enlightening the German
People urgent. He therefore used the material
supplied by this volume, and also by other memoirs
[ vii ]
PREFACE
which had appeared meanwhile, for the composition
of a drama in three acts entitled Dismissal—a Frag¬
ment of History. The indirect object of this play was
to open the eyes of his fellow countrymen to the close
connection between the fall of Bismarck and the
causes of the World War. In the meantime, the
Kaiser’s opposition to the publication of Bismarck’s
third volume had been neutralized by the unexpected
and unauthorized publication of his letters in another
quarter, but Herr Ludwig’s drama was better adapted
to make the matter one of general public interest.
The Kaiser again intervened from Holland and
endeavoured to stop the production of the play,
claiming that he, as a living person, should not be
represented on the stage, and, moreover, that the
proposed representation was untrue and unfair. In
the litigation which followed, however, Herr Ludwig
won his case on appeal, the Court deciding that his
representation was in all respects historically accurate
and absolutely objective. The play was accordingly
performed all over Germany—the number of repre¬
sentations already much exceeding a thousand.
Encouraged by this success, Herr Ludwig shortly
afterwards wrote two other plays in which he un¬
folded the earlier part of Bismarck’s history, and
gave a view of his hero which differs in essential parts
from the conception of the Iron Chancellor with
which we have become familiar. These two plays,
entitled, respectively, King and People: 1862-1864,
and Union: 1870, have been, and continue to be,
frequently performed on the German stage. With
Dismissal: 1 890, they constitute the Trilogy of which
the English version is presented in this volume.
A biographical index has been added, containing
brief notes on the principal characters, which it i$
r ™ 3
PREFACE
hoped may be found interesting by English readers
and convenient for reference.
In 1926 Herr Ludwig added to his studies in
Bismarck’s history a new and detailed Life, which
will be published in English by Messrs. George
Allen ana Unwin during the current year.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
London
September 1927.
C ix )
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. Kino and People (1862-1864)
. I
II. Union (1870) ....
. 149
III. Dismissal (1890)
.
Biographical Index .
• 383
[ ]
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING
PAGE
Bismarck ....
Frontispiece
Wilhelm I
• •
34
Queen Augusta
•
38
Crown Princess Victoria .
•
50
Crown Prince Frederick William
52
Ferdinand Lassalle .
♦ •
76
Empress Eugenie
• •
160
Napoleon III
• •
164
Thiers ....
• •
176
Roon ....
• •
190
Moltke ....
196
B6TTICHER
312
Kaiser Wilhelm II .
• •
314
Johanna von Bismarck
• •
332
Herbert von Bismarck
• •
336
WlNDTHORST
• #
348
I *«■ ]
KING AND PEOPLE
1862-1864
A PLAY IN THREE ACTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Wilhelm I (King of Prussia ).
Queen Augusta.
Crown Prince Frederick William.
Crown Princess Victoria.
Roon ( Minister of War).
Schleinitz ( Minister of the Royal Household).
Bismarck-Schonhausen {Prime Minister).
Johanna von Bismarck {his wife).
Field-Marshal Wrangel.
Count Karolyi {Austrian Minister).
Virchow'
Waldeck • Liberal Deputies.
Duncker,
Ferdinand Lassalle {Socialist leader).
Old Lassal {his father).
Countess Hatzfeld.
H£lIne von Donniges.
Rakowitz.
Citizens, Deputies, Weavers, Courtiers.
The action takes place at Berlin between the autumn
of 1862 and the spring of 1864.
i 3 ]
ACT I
Scene I. A Berlin Beer Garden.
„ II. A Room in Lassalle’s House.
„ III. The Royal Palace, the King’s Private
Room.
ACT II
„ I. Winter Garden, Crown Prince’s
House at Neubabelsberg.
„ II. Bismarck’s House, a Recepiion
Room.
„ III. The Landtag.
ACT III
„ I. A Room in Lassalle’s House.
„ II. A Court Ball.
„ III. Roon’s Room at the Ministry of
War.
L 4 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
(1862-1864)
ACT I
Scene I
A Beer Garden in Berlin. A warm afternoon in the
beginning of September. Citizens and their Wives
in cheerful\ beer-drinking groups , at tables placed
under the trees of the Zelte . 1 The Citizens with
speaking parts, along with a Woman who is
knitting, occupy the front table, L.
FIRST CITIZEN
Waiter, another white beer!
OTHERS
Same for me!
SECOND CITIZEN
They’re as slow here as at Potsdam when it’s a
a question of granting a free pardon!
newsboy (running up with papers , in a childish treble)
Evening edition! Speech from the Throne.
VOICES
Here, here! Give me one!
SECOND CITIZEN
King’s speeches and garlic are two things I cannot
1 1 .e., “ Tents,” a popular beer-garden at Berlin.
C 5 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
abide. They keep “ returning thanks ” the whole
evening.
first citizen (reading aloud)
“ It is not the mission of Prussia to live ...”
OTHERS
Speak up, friend. Read it out to all of us.
BOV
I like that! So that nobody else will buy a copy!
Besides, reading of King’s speeches aloud is for¬
bidden by the police 1 {Laughter.
VOICES
Shut up, can’t you ?
first citizen (round whom a sort of circle has been
formed)
“ It is not the mission of Prussia to live in quiet
enjoyment of what has already been attained. The
conditions of its happiness lie in the combination of
Obedience and Liberty, and in the strengthening of
its armed defences.”
OTHERS
Oh, ho!
FIRST CITIZEN
“ It is the army that has created Prussia’s great¬
ness.”
VOICES
Nonsense! The army! Th t e Landwehr! Quite
right! Silence!
first citizen (continuing to read)
“ The world must learn that Prussia is always
ready to protect the right.”
[ 6 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
voice {very distinctly)
Of course! The right of the Junkers!
FIRST CITIZEN
'* For the preservation of order we need a well
equipped army.”
VOICE
For conquests!
FIRST CITIZEN
“ My confidence in my People is unshakable.”
VOICE
But ours isn’t! [ Applause and laughter.
SECOND VOICE
Stop! That’s enough!
* [Enter R. virchow and waldeck, both in the
prime of life. They are looking at a
newspaper , and seat themselves at a
small table in front.
waldeck {calmly)
Halt Professor! Let’s stop here a moment.
virchow {nervously)
Can one get a decent glass* of beer here ?
second citizen {at table to L.)
Do you know who’s sitting over there ? That is
Virchow, with his long beard.
THIRD CITIZEN
And that is Waldeck, with his mane.
FOURTH CITIZEN
The whole Council’s aboard then 1
[ 7 ]
KING AND PEOPLE ACT I
FIRST CITIZEN
Have you ever heard Virchow in the Landtag?
There’s a talker for you! He says just what he
believes.
SECOND CITIZEN
Does he also believe what he says ?
THIRD CITIZEN
There you go again 1
FOURTH CITIZEN
What you believe doesn’t matter, so long as it
sounds well. And that’s true, whether in Parliament
or in the pulpit.
[ They continue their talk in subdued tones.
virchow (<quietly reading at his table )
“ But those who would rob me of the fidelity and
love of my people I condemn, because their plans
cannot be carried out without wrecking all public
confidence.” Priceless! He separates the chaff from
the grain and like a king in a fairy tale divides his
subjects into two classes—the good and the bad.
waldeck {smoking phlegmatically)
A capital title for to-morrow’s leader. We must
expatiate: Provocation by the King—a reference to
last year’s Coronation, when he took the crown from
the Lord’s Table, as they call it. Then we go on to
speak of March ’48, when he himself ordered the
soldiers to fire on peaceful citizens.
VIRCHOW
But what about Roon ? You must get at Roon, for
£ 8 j
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
of course it was he who composed this speech. I
should say: It is Rooti who wants to rob the country
of the last remnants of the liberties of 1813, Roon who
wants to convert the free Landwehr into drilled
machines, Roon who is providing the King with an
army to use against the people, while the people want
its army only to fight foreign foes.
WALDECK
(People’s Army, King’s Army. We’ve said that
a hundred times already.
VIRCHOW
Well, say it again! A truth becomes a degree
truer with every repetition.
WALDECK
(Would you admit that that principle applies to
Anatomy ?
VIRCHOW
(My dear fellow, don’t mix up two totally different
things. Science is a beautiful thing, and politics .-
WALDECK .
Is also a beautiful thing? No! You really can’t
say that!
VIRCHOW
And why not? Fighting is hygienic. Fighting
withdraws us from static back-bending over a micro¬
scope and puts us in the elastic pose of a fencer, and
thus relaxes both eyes and brain.
WALDECK
And who are you going to carry on the fight with
C 9 ]
ACT I
KING AND PEOPLE
iust at present ? For the Itzenplitzes, the Jagows, and
their kind will all be taking to the woods to-morrow.
VIRCHOW
I am banking now, as before, on the Crown
Prince.
WALDECK
Psha! As if the days of the King were numbered!
Whereas ( sighing ) he is as sound as a bell and will
probably make his round century, thanks to the
Grace of God, with Whom he seems to be in
partnership.
VIRCHOW
Well, we’ll have to play the Crown Prince against
him.
WALDECK
Tied to the apron-strings of the little English
Princess! If a time ever comes when London has
need of the King of Prussia, then both the Victorias,
mother and daughter, will instantly become ultra-
Conservatives. English morality has a double
bottom.
VIRCHOW
But will our beloved and paternal Ruler be able to
get anyone else to take office ?
WALDECK
I could make a shrewd guess.
VIRCHOW
Manteuffel? Goltz?
waldeck (with a sly smile)
What do you think? Lassalle, of course!
[ io 3
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
[Both hurst into a hearty laugh and continue
their conversation. Two Youths, with
black , red, and gold sashes , begin to
make a collection among the tables.
FIRST YOUTH
Collection for the German National Union 1
[The Citizens put something into the collect¬
ing boxes.
FIRST CITIZEN
Well, neighbour, what do you give to the good
cause ?
THIRD CITIZEN
Always a silver groschen: half for Schleswig-
Holstein and half for German unity. And you ?
SECOND CITIZEN
I give three silver groschen.
FOURTH CITIZEN
We didn’t see anything of that?
SECOND CITIZEN
It’s all right. Look here. This groschen is for
the German Confederation and that for Austria.
But these two never come to an agreement, so they
cancel out. I take out a third groschen for Prussia.
But there’s sure to come some botheration from the
King, like to-day’s Speech from the Throne. That
takes away all my interest in Prussia. So back goes
that too into my pocket. In this way I have, as a
good patriot, saved three silver groschen. Waiter,
bring me a white beer with raspberry 1
C II ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
others ( laughing)
That is politics on the cheap!
SECOND CITIZEN
I tell you, that’s exactly the way the great gentle¬
men in the Wilhelmstrasse reckon.
FIRST CITIZEN
No, my friend. Our Government has never yet
been as smart as that.
THIRD CITIZEN
What? Do you think that because they have the
brains of a sheep they are therefore as innocent as
lambs ? Ask Virchow there what sly customers they
are.
FIRST CITIZEN
I know him as well as I know my old woman.
I’ll do as you say.
[First Citizen goes over to the other table .
SECOND CITIZEN
Look at him showing off with his grand acquaint¬
ances 1
virchow ( diplomatically invites the Citizen to take
a seat)
Of course, I remember you quite well. Didn’t you
make a speech a little time ago at Koepenik against
the three years’ service ?
FIRST CITIZEN
Fancy your remembering all this time, Herr
Doctor 1 Well, (pointing to the newspaper) what are
we to think of the latest royal deliverance ?
[ 12 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
VIRCHOW
To begin with, Herr-?
FIRST CITIZEN
Piesecke, Fritz Piesecke, sausages and eggs, in the
Werdischer Market.
VIRCHOW
And an active member of our district organization.
WALDECK
Beyond the canal, round the second corner ? My
wife is one of your customers.
FIRST CITIZEN
That’s right. And Frau Waldeck is always served
with everything of the freshest.
VIRCHOW
The Speech from the Throne, Herr Piesecke?
(Becomes rather rhetorical '.) It is a signal I It is the
beginning of the end 1
j [Some of the other Citizens cross over and
stand round the table to hear what
virchow has to say %
(Seated^ but gesticulating .) The King says he needs
soldiers. Against whom? Of course, against the
peaceful citizens. Why? Because the citizen is
quite content with his honest old Landwehr, which
did the business anno 1813.
VOICES
Hearl Hear!
virchow (rising to his feet)
Now, my dear Fellow Citizens, for what, I ask
C *3 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
you, do we need new skeleton corps and the three
years’ service ? Simply to give aristocratic lieutenants
an opportunity to drill and bully our young men.
CITIZENS
Hear! Hear!
SECOND CITIZEN
At the manoeuvres last August, when it was so hot,
the apex of my Eddy’s left lung was twisted till it was
like a horseshoe.
VIRCHOW
There now! That’s how a healthy and respectable
young man is made to pay for the aggressive policy of
General Roon.
VOICE
Roon 1 Roon! Let’s give him a groan! [ Laughter.
VIRCHOW
But we are not the majority for nothing! The
Radicals, with their hundred and sixty seats, will set
their powerful veto on the militaristic antics of
Potsdam!
FIRST CITIZEN
That’s the way to talk! There, Professor, you’ve
hit the bull again! We don’t want any militaristic
antics!
OTHERS
What we want is peace and quietness.
[Boy runs in from the Tiergarten side, full of
excitement.
, boy (as he comes in)
Father! Mother! Here comes old Wrangell
Don’t you see him, getting off his horse ?
C 14 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
VOICES
Old Wrangel? Come on! Always among the
beer-glasses 1
VIRCHOW
The Field-Marshal ? Here ?
FIRST CITIZEN
This is his regular place. When he goes out
riding he never fails to take a stirrup-cup here.
Didn’t you know that, Professor ? Come on, Gustav,
we must see the old boy.
[All withdraw to the other side, and surround
the new arrival.
WALDECK
You see, Virchow? That’s our fellows all over.
They’ve only to see a glittering coat, a military
moustache, and a handsome bay, and then they’ll
follow them to the Day of Judgment.
[Enter, front, wrangel, an octogenarian in a
white and blue cuirassier uniform,
stretching his cavalryman's legs. He is
followed at a little distance by the
delighted Citizens and is offered a dram
by the smiling and obsequious Landlord.
He is a typical old Berliner.
WRANGEL
How now, old fellow, still blooming in the middle
of September ?
landlord (rather fatuously)
Your Excellency looks as hale and hearty as you
were in the May of life!
C 15 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
wrangel ( snorting )
Stow that poetic trash! Are you copying Schiller,
whose marble statue I just cantered past ? Keep your
gush for my old nag and see that he has a bucket
of water.
LANDLORD
At once, your Excellency. I’ll see that the beast
gets it cool and fresh. [Exit Landlord.
wrangel (calling after him )
Yes, but see you don’t give him iced water. Not
too cold and not too warml (Drinks, then softly.)
Easy does it—as we say in the army 1 (The bystanders
laugh.) That’s all right! Isn’t it, sonny?
FIRST CITIZEN
Well, you ought to know all about that, Field-
Marshal !
WRANGEL
I used to, rather1 That’s what makes the lifeless
skeleton of Boney groan when he walks about his old
island in Africa. But in the meantime I’ve had time
to forget nearly all about it. Fifty years have I been
standing about waiting for a decent fight, like a
student who waits fifty minutes by the clock for his
girl—and she never turns up 1 It’s fifty years since
I got off old Grete at Paris, and since then not a
vulture in the vault of heaven 1 From morning till
night we yawn and pray to the Almighty as if all
Prussia were a church. You laugh but you turn grey
without ever having smelt powder. What sort of a
show do you think you’ll make before your Prussian
God? (Goes up close to the First Citizen and speaks
C 16 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
SCENE I
more sharply.) Well, sonny, where do you think
you’ll get to with your fine gendarmerie ?
first citizen ( annoyed)
I mean no harm, Field-Marshal.
WRANGEL
None of us means any harml ( Turns his back to
Virchow’s table, after glancing towards it, and speaks
•very trenchantly.) But I’ll tell you one thing. If you
don’t clear out the fellows from the Talking-Shop in
the Donhoffs-Platz, who riddle our Army with their
Liberal orations, so that the generals never know
whether a professor like that chap there will grant
them three muskets more or less, then you’ll deserve
to fall into the ditch without having fired a single
bullet into the honourable carcass of a Frenchman.
Do you understand, children ?
citizens ( animated)
Yes, indeed, Field-Marshal!
[Citizens escort wrangel to his horse .
waldeck (in front)
You see, Virchow? “ Easy does it, as we say in
the Army! ” You can’t work the oracle like that!
VIRCHOW
Never mind; we have the majority. We’ll very
soon rouse these old fossils from their primeval
slumbers!
voices (behind the scenes)
Three cheers for Wrangel! Hurrah for the Field-
Marshal!
[ *7 ]
c
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
Scene II
A room in lassalle’s house. An elegant, rather over¬
decorated sitting-room, with rugs, bronzes, books,
etc. It is afternoon. Lassalle, a well groomed
man of thirty-seven, in a fashionably-cut light suit,
is lying on a divan. He is writing with his right
hand on a tablet supported on his right knee, with
his left hand under his head.
lassalle {alone)
There! These’ll do for the chief points of
my speech to-morrow. Now for a little rehearsal.
{Jumps up with youthful agility, arranges his tie before
a mirror, then walks up and down, somewhat theatrically,
memorizing his speech .) “ The Labour programme,
because of which they have presumed to call me
before this Court, is purely theoretical and therefore
immune from prosecution. If you, my worthy
judges, are insufficiently informed to be able to
discriminate between a carefully thought-out work of
political economy and the banal fly-sheet of some
cheap demagogue, I shall to-day have the honour of
enlightening you. The Liberals, of course, are
getting red in the face and are trembling for law and
order. Well, I tell this honourable Court that I snap
my fingers at law and order! ” [Servant opens the door.
SERVANT
The old gentleman has come, Herr Doctor.
lassalle {hurries to door like a boy)
What, you, father? Where do you come from?
Come in, come ini {To the Servant.) Bring a bottle
C 18 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
SCENE II
of Burgundy. One of the ’57 batch. Warm it care¬
fully from one and a half to two minutes. Now, out
with it, father!
[Lassalle brings in old lassal with filial
care. The Father resembles his son ,
but is more typically Semitic; his Jewish
accent should not> however , be overdone.
FATHER
How can I, while you are doing all the talking ?
Let me warm myself for one and a half to two minutes 1
Lord, what wonderful rugs!
LASSALLE
You’ve seen them all before.
FATHER
That light-coloured one over there is new.
LASSALLE
You see everything with your blind eyes I
FATHER
What do you mean by blind? I wish you could
see as clearly as your old father.
lassalle (good humouredly)
Must I prepare for another sermon ?
father (drawing a newspaper out of his pocket)
My dear child 1 Ferdinand, my only son 1 What’s
this you’ve been up to now ?
lassalle
A mere bagatelle that I mean to get off my chest
to-morrow.
[ *9 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 1
FATHER
Bagatelle 1 {Reads aloud.) “ The notorious Presid¬
ent of the Labour Union, Ferdinand Lassalle ”
(spelled with an “ e ” at the tail, I see!) “ is accused
of inciting his fellow citizens to hatred and contempt.
The main hearing takes place to-morrow.” And
that’s what you call a bagatelle! I get diarrhoea when
I read that sort of thing in the Breslau Gazette.
LASSALLE
If I owe your visit to the silliness of the authorities,
I shall bless my enemies!
FATHER
What do you mean by blessing your enemies?
Are you thinking of getting baptized ?
LASSALLE
My enemies would just love that!
FATHER
Why do you incite people to hate and contempt ?
Did you learn that at home ? Ferdinand, listen to me 1
I am an old man! [Servant enters with wine.
lassalle (filling the glasses)
This will make you young again. It’s a political
trial, father, just like a dozen others I’ve been
through. The Liberals are beside themselves
because I oppose them even more hotly than the
Government. They’re inciting the people to hatred
and contempt of the King. When I try to prove
to the working classes that these money-bags, with
the specious talk about liberty, are really out to
[ 20 }
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
exploit the workers, then they haul me into court.
And just now all the judges are Liberals.
FATHER
So you are happily sitting between two stools 1
lassalle ( triumphantly )
No. Rather am I reclining on the divan of my
own Party and saying “ I etat c'est moi ” 1 I am
the dictator of my movement! There, nobody can
make me budge 1
FATHER (sottO VOCe )
Just like you—even when you were a small boy.
lassalle ( heatedly )
As the Liberals do what they like with the
Government, they are in deadly fear of a man who
can loose the winds of class warfare like Aeolus and
produce chaos with a fiery word. Don’t you under¬
stand ?
FATHER
Of course I understand. Do you take me for a
public meeting ?
lassalle (laughings sits down beside his father and
puts his arm round him)
Dearest and best of fathers 1 Why do you shake
your head over me to-day—just as you’ve done for
the last twenty years ?
FATHER
_ You’re such a clever youngster. Why can’t you
give up this speechifying ? Of course, it is a pity that
there are so many poor, but clearly it is the will of
[ ai J
ACT I
KING AND PEOPLE
God that it should be so. Must you get into hot
water with the rich by meddling with God’s business ?
Why do you go in with a rotten firm like that when
you can have a sure thing.
LASSALLE
Is there anything “ sure ” in these days ? Are you
thinking of the King by any chance ?
FATHER
God help him! He is so shaky on his throne that
he may well sell dead fish for live ones!
lassalle [laughing)
Then who or what is “ sure ” ?
father ( enumerating)
Well, for instance, in the first place, your enemies,
the Liberals are; they have capital on their side.
Then there’s property; that’s all right. Then,
there’s the Stock Exchange-
LASSALLE
All that these people want is to become Ministers I
FATHER
And you, sonny ?
LASSALLE
Minister ? ( Sotto voce.) That would hardly satisfy
me—now.
FATHER
Lord, when I think what you could earn with that
brain of yours 1 When you were only fifteen old
Heimann said to me: “ Herr Lassal, that youngster
will some day make the fortune of your firm.”
[ 22 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
LASSALLE
And now, instead, I have brought all this mis¬
fortune upon you!
FATHER
What do you mean by misfortune, my dear boy?
I have the best son in the whole world! But, if you
don’t want to make money and are out just for honour
and glory, let politics go hang and go back to your
philosophy books. Humboldt said that you could
easily become a university professor. If you had a
chair you could fully satisfy your vanity without
running the risk of being locked up!
lassalle ( quietly , but superciliously )
What is vanity ?
father ( affectionately )
Ferdinand, why do you ask when you of all people
know quite well ?
LASSALLE
Is ambition a crime? Can you fancy Napoleon
without ambition ?
FATHER
Righteous God! To think that a son of mine
should compare himself with that monster 1
lassalle {springing to his feet and pacing up and down)
Philosophy! How right you are! All my labour is
in vain with this stupid people, whose one idea is to
obey! Ay, if only a man were in power! A fceman
worthy of me! But these cold douches on a brain
on fire! {Pause. He stands stilly looking out of the
window , then turns round suddenly and asks, irrelevantly^)
[ ^ ]
ACT I
KING AND PEOPLE
Father 1 What would you say if I some day brought
home a red-haired Valkyrie as your daughter-in-law ?
father (nodding affectionately)
I should say you were touched.
lassalle ( laughing )
But why ?
FATHER
My child, why have you hung a French syllable on
to my respectable name ? Wasn’t it fine enough for
you?
lassalle ( laughing )
It sounds better.
FATHER
I suppose the next thing will be that you’ll set up
a coat of arms with seven lozenges—or more for all
I know.
LASSALLE
Perhaps it might make my red-haired beauty
consent to marry me.
FATHER
I knew it l When you said Valkyrie you meant
Baroness. What have you to do with such folk?
Always in extremes! (With impatient gestures?) One
hand to the workers down below and the other to the
aristocrats up above—and you’ll end by being torn
in twol
[Servant opens the door; enter countess
hatzfeld. She is an aristocratic matron
of about fifty, somewhat masculine in her
bearing and always most cordial to
[ *4 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle, who greets her like a chival¬
rous son,
lassalle (even more brilliant and charming than before ,
but a trifle theatrical as always)
You come just in the nick of time to support my
father. How do you do, my dear friend? Yes,
father, tell Countess Hatzfeld yourself what a snob
you think me.
countess {at first serious and bristling a little)
What have you to say against Lassalle ?
father (with emotion )
What should I have to say against him, seeing I am
his father ?
countess (simply)
He is the bravest man in the world. It is to him
I owe my honour and my estate. Ten years he
fought to save them.
lassalle (nervously)
No more! That’s an old story. Damn it all, if I
had been born a Prince or a Count of course I should
have been a defender of my class 1
COUNTESS
And a reactionary?
lassalle (smiling)
Always jumping from one bank to the other. Since
I, as a bourgeois, can’t be other than a democrat, I
insist at least on complete freedom in my private
affairs.
[ 25 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
FATHER
Well now, Countess, who is the young lady?
LASSALLE
Not a word! Not a word!
FATHER
Secrets? Then I’d better be going.
COUNTESS
There’s no secret, but there is a great piece of
news. Whom do you think I just met ?
lassalle ( violently)
If it was a politician I don’t want to know!
countess ( smiling)
All right. Then I won’t tell you.
father ('coming nearer)
Names don’t matter. But, my lady, who is the
girl?
countess {after a look at lassalle, who smiles)
Lately a certain fair-haired young lady took tea
with me. Her father is an ambassador. True blue!
Reads the Kreuzzeitungl Moreover, she is betrothed.
father {jumping to his feet)
For heaven’s sake, keep your hands off her! She
is, doubtless, betrothed to a Count, and Counts shoot
on the smallest provocation. Ferdinand, keep your
hands off her I
COUNTESS
I have been trying for a week to make that clear
to him.
[ 26 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
LASSALLE
May I know—exactly why ?
COUNTESS
Are you not flouting people quite enough already
—you —ra Labour leader, by living en grand seigneur
in Bellevuestrasse surrounded by Oriental carpets ?
lassalle ( springing to his feet)
I am absolutely proof against these illogical and
miserable arguments! ( Rhetorically .) Is it not enough
that I devote my life to this class ? Is it not enough
that I shake their horny hands, that I endure the
reek of their stuffy meetings, ruin my throat,
endanger my personal safety, sacrifice my health, my
freedom, and my money? Because I choose to do
all this must I bring a baker’s daughter into this
home of refinement and good taste and procreate
mongrel sons?
father (rises , offended)
I should have been in the Brttderstrasse long ago
to meet a business friend.
lassalle ( embracing him)
And what are you doing this evening ?
father (emotionally)
I have nothing to do but to love you, my boy—
nothing else to do!
LASSALLE
Then we meet again to-night ?
father (at the door)
Ferdinand, keep your hands off her! [Exit father.
[ 27 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
las salle {with a changed and serious air )
That settles it 1
COUNTESS
Why need you get married ?
LASSALLE
You mean I might dispense with the wedding-
ring ? Well, perhaps. And yet the ring is just what
attracts me,
COUNTESS
You fooll You’re putting your head in a noose
and you’ll have Hdlfene’s fianc 6 to deal with.
LASSALLE
A stupid little Baron.
COUNTESS
He is young.
lassalle {more and more excited)
You mean I am getting old ?
COUNTESS
On the contrary, I think you are more undeveloped
than I should expect at your age!
LASSALLE
Better and better! Lassalle’s getting on! He is
no longer able to cope with a boy of twenty-two, who
can do nothing except enumerate his ancestors.
countess {firmly)
You’ve got bigger things to do. Do you know
whom I met a quarter of an hour ago ?
C 28 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
LASSALLE
Some ass of a politician, I suppose.
countess (slowly)
As I was crossing Unter den Linden on my way
here, all of a sudden I was saluted in the Schadow-
strasse by a general.
lassalle (hardly listening)
Worse and worse!
COUNTESS
When I looked up I saw it was Roon.
lassalle
Roon ? In Unter den Linden in the afternoon ?
COUNTESS
And beside him was a giant, very smart in
mufti-
LASSALLE
A giant? Bernstorff?
COUNTESS
No. Herr von Bismarck-SchQnhausen.
lassalle (turning sharply)
Bismarck !
[Pause. Lassalle goes to the window ,
evidently excogitating.
(In a low voice.) Then he will be Premier in three
days.
countess
How do you know that?
C *9 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
LASSALLE
He has just been Ambassador in Paris. Roon is
his impresario and has been wanting to bring him
to the front for the last three years. The Cabinet has
just resigned. In consequence of this, Roon has
telegraphed for him, and faute de mieux , the King will
have to take a bite of the sour apple from Schonhausen.
countess (laughing softly )
What a head you have for plans!
lassalle {gazing out of the window , in a low voice ,
speaking to himself)
Bismarck! A man 1 The worthy Prussians
have no notion what’s in store for them. If these
Liberal dullards smell the Junker, the game is up.
I have followed this man’s career for ten years. He
has a devil in him, like me. An adversary indeed!
Adversary ? Why not ally ? Why not ? {Turns
round.) You know him, Countess? Do you think
he is dare-devil enough to throw in his lot with us ?
COUNTESS
He’ll do anything that serves his purpose.
LASSALLE
The problem is how to make him serve mine.
{Then to himself.) We must win him over to Franchise
Reform—suggest to him that his weapon would give
him his majority, while, in the meantime, he would be
building up mine l
COUNTESS
Courage, Lassalle! Courage—and prudence!
[ 30 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
LASSALLE (still SOttO Vote )
We are united in enmity to the Liberals. We
are sufficiently far apart to understand each other.
(Turns briskly towards her and changes his manner .) I
beg your pardon. Did you say it was a quarter of
an hour ago ?
COUNTESS
Twenty minutes ago.
LASSALLE
Walking? In the direction of the Brandenburger
Tor?
COUNTESS
Apparently.
lassalle ( amiably, after a pause)
It’s such a fine day. Shall we go to the Tiergarten
for half an hour ?
countess ( smiling )
I should love to.
lassalle (opening the door, then softly )
I want to see this man face to face. A giant, you
said?
COUNTESS
Yes, indeed! He is built like a guardsman!
Scene III
The Royal Palace. The King'sprivate room. Schlein-
itz and roon stand waiting. Schleinitz, about
sixty, in ministerial uniform, quite the accomplished
courtier in features, manners, speech, and smile.
C 3i 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
Roon, fifty years old , in a general’s uniform ,
tall and rather gaunt , a soldier of the old Prussian
type , inclined to be gloomy and with a sonorous
•voice.
ROON
Then you still believe in a solution through the
Upper House ?
SCHLEINITZ
I hear from a particularly good source that Arnim
will propose a resolution there.
ROON
Why?
schleinitz ( shrugging his shoulders and smiling )
A predatory swoop at a portfolio!
ROON
The moment requires stouter timber—oak, not a
willow wand.
schleinitz (smiling)
Well, general, you’ll no doubt produce this oaken
cudgel and beat the barren rock of the Landtag
with it until the soldiers gush out ?
ROON
Is it now generally known that Herr von Bismarck-
Schbnhausen has left Paris ?
schleinitz (with affected uncertainty)
Well, it was reported at Her Majesty’s tea yester¬
day—it was believed—it was said . . .
roon
He is here, your Excellency. Will the Queen
make difficulties ?
[ 3* ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
SCHLEINITZ
Our Gracious Lady does not meddle with politics.
She devotes herself to works of charity.
ROON
And what does the Crown Prince think ?
SCHLEINITZ
In that quarter I am not au courant.
roon ( bluntly )
Your Excellency was, however, very much so three
years since. Then you succeeded in excluding Bis¬
marck from the leadership.
schleinitz (more sharply)
That is news to me, general. What I do re¬
member is that about four years ago he, though
Ambassador under me, tried in vain to get me
turned out of the Government.
ROON
His Majesty!
[Attendants throw open doors. Enter kino
wilhelm, a man of sixty-five., well set-up
and erect. He is in uniform, without
orders , but wears the black and white
ribbon which is his exclusive privilege.
An officer of the old school, but at the
same time a great gentleman, he is often
extraordinarily frank with his confidants
and allows his repressed anxieties to
become strikingly visible. After these
outbursts, however, he always and
[ 33 ] d
KING AND PEOPLE ACT I
immediately resumes the hearing and
accents of the aristocratic officer.
KING
Good morning, gentlemen.
schleinitz and roon ( together )
Good morning, your Majesty.
KINO
Have you seen the Queen yet, Schleinitz ?
SCHLEINITZ
Just for a moment.
KING
Please tell her ... no, never mind. I’ll see her
later myself.
[Schleinitz bows and retires backwards.
The king is visibly relieved ’, sits down
at the large writing-desk and motions
roon to be seated .
KING
Well, what have you to say to-day ?
ROON
The mutilated budget which the Landtag ...
KING
Read the papers, Roon! Read the papers 1
ROON
Your Majesty shouldn’t read them, or else you
should treat them with contempt.
[ 34 ]
Wilhelm I
[Sc/icrTs Bilderdimst
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
KINO
My duty forbids the first, my honour the second.
You can take your ease. You act only by your King’s
command. But I! Everyone is free to shoot at me.
I am reviled more bitterly than anyone in Prussia.
{Rises.) To accuse me of cowardice! I, who fought
under Bltlcher! During the four years I have been
on the Throne we have been pinching and scrap¬
ing in order to reform the Army. Yet I have had
to fight these fellows for every bayonet, for every
remount. And if I make use of the provisions of
the Constitution, to which these very gentlemen
are constantly appealing, I am told that “ the King
is entrenching himself behind a paragraph.”
ROON
Your Majesty takes it too seriously. The writer
never intended to produce such an impression.
KING
There it is, however 1 I have not closed my eyes
all night because of this insult.
ROON
All the more reason why you must get new
Ministers to protect you.
KING
They’ve all left me in the lurch—Itzenplitz,
Hohenlohe, Von der Heydt. They all resign the
moment things get dangerous. And what if the
Landtag pushes you, too, against the wall ?
ROON
That won’t bother me, so long as the wall doesn’t
give way.
C 35 ]
KING AND PEOPLE ACT I
king (turning and going up to the fireplace; in a low
voice)
The wall, I can tell you, is very much inclined to
do so.
roon (uneasily)
Your Majesty means?
king (aside, almost humbly)
What can a King do if he cannot find a Minister?
Fritz may pocket the insult if he likes!
roon (as above)
Your Majesty is not thinking of. . . ?
king (again in control of himself, looking roon in the
face)
Get me a Minister l
ROON
I have him, your Majesty!
king (excited, standing by the writing-table)
Well?
ROON
The same I suggested in vain three years ago.
king (disappointed)
Oh! Your perennial candidate! He’d better stay
quietly in Paris. He can be of some use there.
He is here.
Since when ?
ROON
king (rather stiffly)
ROON
Since yesterday.
Family and business affairs ...
c 36 1
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
kino ( sharply )
Are you trying to force the man on me, General ?
roon ( unabashed)
I am a soldier and can lead a Division but not a
Cabinet. Rather than remain idly looking on while
your Majesty is in need of support, I am ready to
risk your Majesty’s displeasure.
kino (looks at roon, half stern, half pleased, and then
drops heavily into his chair. Pause )
Probably he won’t be willing to undertake the task
now.
ROON
I’ll answer for that.
KING
Well, he’ll make crazy stipulations, this dangerous
fellow, and after a month he 11 be off too, like the rest.
The only result will be to burden the country with
eight more pensions. For any member of his Cabinet
would be impossible ever afterwards.
ROON
He might win, your Majesty!
king ( gloomily )
I have lost all my faith.
ROON
He might give it you back, your Majesty.
kino (shakes his head and looks upwards )
There is only One who could do that.
C 37 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
ROON
Your Majesty won’t receive him then ?
KING
Of course I’ll receive my Ambassador. The Lord
Chamberlain . . .
ROON
May I not tell him myself?
KING
Well, well. Why this hurry ?
ROON
Delay is dangerous, your Majesty. This evening
the Liberal papers are sure to publish the news that
their enemy is here, and make comments that we
must forestall.
king (rather unwillingly , after a pause)
Very well, let him come.
[Folding doors open; enter a Lady-in-
waiting.
LADY
Her Majesty the Queen. [Exit roon.
[Enter queen Augusta, a woman of fifty ,
proud, passionate , and dictatorial, even
towards her husband.
kino {at first very attentive, kisses her hand)
Good morning, Augusta. You seldom give me the
pleasure of seeing you so early.
i 38 ]
Queen Augusta
[ScAerl*s Bilderdienst
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
QUEEN
If only it is not too late! You never have a proper
night’s sleep now.
king {leads her to a chair while he stands or walks up
and down )
How could any responsible person sleep while
these cataclysms are happening P
QUEEN
So there’s nothing for it but to give way ?
KING
That’s my view.
queen {surprised and pleased)
You will make some concession to the Landtag?
You are at last ready to make peace with your
people ? {Rises quickly and goes up to him.) Wilhelml
KING
You know very well that I couldn’t reconcile that
with my conscience.
QUEEN
Well, what do you mean to do ?
KING
I cannot find Ministers strong enough to carry the
Army Bill through against the feeling in the country.
The Crown cannot capitulate to the people; the
King can do so only in and for his own person.
Therefore, I mean to give up the task and abdicate.
Fritz may be able to handle the position, as he has
convinced himself of the propriety of giving way.
[ 39 3
KING AND PEOPLE ACT I
Here’s the draft of my public statement. My honour
will not be smirched 1
queen (looks blankly at the document , then gloomily )
And so it was for this that we waited twenty years
in the antechamber! For this we grew cabbages all
these ten years at Coblenz! To be shelved after such
a brief career, to give up everything again and sit
outside in the cold, powerless and condemned to
silence ? Wilhelm , I thought you had more courage!
king (excitedly)
And what does your courage amount to? To
yield, step by step! What have we gained by your
prescriptions during these two years? Don’t you
see? we are already in the middle of a revolution,
though the shooting has not yet begun. Have you
forgotten March ’48 ?
queen (■passionately)
It is because I can never forget it that I warn
youl If you remain obstinate we may again have
the pleasure of seeing the Berlin parsons strike our
names out of the Prayer Book!
king (quietly)
That is why I mean to go.
QUEEN
Do you think I like the prospect of being ruled by
this little Englishwoman—who is scarcely grown up ?
KING
Get me a Minister then.
C 40 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
QUEEN
I could think of several who might find a way out
of our difficulty. (Pause.) Bethmann-Hollweg . . .
king (gruffly)
Irresolute and muddle-headed!
QUEEN
Then there is Schleinitz . . .
KING
He has already made a mess of it.
QUEEN
Then there is . ..
[Enter Aide-de-camp, who announces:
AIDE-DE-CAMP
Herr von Bismarck-Schonhausen! [Exit.
queen {passionately)
Don’t receive him! The mere fact that you have
spoken with him would become known, and might
injure you in this crisis.
KING
I will hear what he has to say.
QUEEN
He’ll only make you more obstinate.
KING
My programme is ready for all eventualities and
•will save me from that.
[ 4i ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
QUEEN
I warn you! It would be a slap in the face for the
“ Forty-Eighters ” in the Landtag.
KING
And do you know who it was that stood up for me
once upon a time when you all lost your heads here,
when everybody turned against me, and you were all
for the plan of a Regency for Fritz, to whom now you
hate to give way? It was this same Bismarck, who
moved heaven and earth to organize resistance for me
and the Party 1 I shall never forget that 1
QUEEN
I have warned you. This man may lose you your
throne—you—and the Crown Prince too!
[Exit in great agitation, L.
king (j pacing up and down)
Oh, Lord! Show me the way out of this
darkness!
[Rings a bell on the writing-table . An Aide-
de-camp appears , introduces Bismarck,
and exit. Enter bismarck. He is in
his forty-eighth year , is still slender and
very much the diplomatist, supple ,
accommodating, but determined . He is
in evening dress with a few decorations.
A contemporary describes him thus:
“ At that time he was still quite a man
of fashion and moved and carried
himself with an air of elegance and
refinement. He had trodden the smooth
floors of palaces and had not yet re-
C 4 * ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
nounced a dancer's privileges. The
power of his keen glances was extra¬
ordinary, yet his smile was a mere curl
of the lips in which the eyes had no part.
He always seemed ready for a fight ,
though he affected a certain laisser-aller,
and made light of anything which was
mysterious. At the same time he was
exceedingly impatient of contradiction
Frequent pauses occur in the following
conversation.
king ( coolly , does not offer his hand)
Welcome home. I didn’t know—you had left
Paris.
BISMARCK
Short leave, your Majesty, to see my family.
KING
Well, your political instinct has not failed you, for
you’ve come at the very height of the crisis.
BISMARCK
That is chance, your Majesty, not merit.
king (sitting down)
W'hat do you think of the situation ?
{Motions to a seat.
BISMARCK
Excellent!
KING
Good gracious!
BISMARCK
What better could one wish? Resignation of a
weak Cabinet, a challenge—and the way to deal with
it.
C 43 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT I
KING
What do you mean by “ the way to deal with it
BISMARCK
Show your teeth to the Landtag.
KING
What teeth ?
BISMARCK
The whole thirty-two!
KING
That’s a bitter jest. What we’ve got to do is to
govern in accordance with the Constitution and at the
same time get soldiers.
BISMARCK
The Army is the rocher de bronze , the Constitution
is—elastic.
king (looks up gravely)
I have sworn to observe it.
BISMARCK
No one will dare to trouble your Majesty’s
conscience. The interpretation of the Constitution
is a question of statesmanship.
king
Statesmanship! H’m 1 How old are you ?
BISMARCK
Forty-seven, your Majesty.
KING
I was over sixty when I got the reins of power.
[ 44 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
That gave your Majesty the advantage of a past
full of momentous experiences—a priceless asset in
official life.
KING (sotto voce)
Very true! (Aloud.) Do you think we can carry
on the government without a majority?
bismarck ( decidedly)
We can always carry on the government—so long
as we have breath, your Majesty.
KING
Without money ?
bismarck ( significantly)
With soldiers.
KING
But how can we get soldiers without money ?
BISMARCK (slowly)
The power of the monarchical idea will be
sufficient to produce them!
king (goes to the window. Pause. Then in a low
voice)
“ Power of the monarchical idea! ” God bless my
soul! Forty-seven, you said? You realize that a
Prime Minister who supports the Army Bill can only
count upon eleven votes in the House ?
BISMARCK
The younger Pitt had only ten when he assumed
office. A year later he was the most popular man in
England.
C 45 1
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 1
KINO
In Prussia that could only be done if the Army
won victories.
Bismarck ( deliberately )
Then we must have victories and take the people
by surprise.
king {looks him in the face, with greater confidence)
Well now, Herr von Bismarck, to come to the point,
are you really prepared to risk jumping into a Cabinet
over sabre and musket, as I might say?
bismarck {confidently)
I’d jump all right, your Majesty 1
KING
Then read my programme here.
bismarck {muttering as he glances through the
programme)
“ Question of District Regulations; struggle between
the towns and the landed gentry.” {Puts the document
down and addresses the king boldly .) Your Majesty!
The question is whether the King or Parliament is to
govern Prussia. Everything else is secondary. If
you decide to give me your confidence a programme
would be nothing but an embarrassment to both of us.
KING
What? You claim freedom of action?
BISMARCK
That or nothing. I serve my King.
C 46 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
KING
Your conditions?
BISMARCK
I feel like a Brandenburg vassal who sees his lord
in danger. When one governs in such times as these
one must begin without conditions and without a
programme, and let oneself be guided by circum¬
stances.
KING
You would obey me in case of need ?
BISMARCK
If I disagreed I should always give reasons, but,
when all is said and done, I would rather perish with
my King than desert him in a fight with Parliament.
king (with animation)
At last a man who can command 1 At last someone
who understands that this is a fight to the death
between Crown and People!
bismarck (warningly)
Yes, but were your Majesty to descend one step
of your Throne to offer a hand of friendship to your
adversaries, they would seize the opportunity to drag
you down the others. We must fight.
king (takes a document from the table)
Here is the abdication I had drafted. With your
help I’ll make one more effort (tears up the paper,
impulsively holding out his hand) and jight\
bismarck (looking him straight in the face )
Prussia’s downfall is not yet written in the stars.
[ 47 ]
ACT II
Scene I
Winter Garden in the crown prince’s house at Neu-
babelsberg. The Pavilion is in a would-be Gothic
style, decorated with armour and swords; there is a
good deal of chintz and wicker furniture , recalling
an English country-house. From the open arches at
the back steps descend to the garden , with flower¬
beds in the foreground backed by old trees. It is a
sunny afternoon in autumn. At the tea-table in
front, L ., are seated the crown princess victoria,
h£lene von donniges, a Lady-in-waiting,
rakowitz, and duncker. Victoria, in her early
twenties , is an Amazon-like figure of medium
height , aristocratic rather than beautiful; she is
ardently intelligent , keen , and ambitious , generally
cold and—like bismarck —better at hating than
loving. She speaks perfect German in a crisp and
staccato tone , like the swish of a riding-whip.
With her inferiors she affects, on principle , an easy
manner which is really out of harmony with her
pride. With persons of high rank , such as the
king and queen, she is apt to be cool and reserved.
Her dress is typically English , but quite in the
fashion of the day. She sits alone at one side of the
tea-table , facing her Guests, who form a semicircle
opposite.
Tea is being served noiselessly by Two Footmen.
VICTORIA
You are a Roumanian, are you not, Herr von
Rakowitz ?
C 48 3
KING AND PEOPLE
SCENE I
[Rakowitz is a fashionable young man , with
dark eyes and hair , speaking rather
imperfect German.
RAKOWITZ
I am a Walachian, your Royal Highness.
VICTORIA
Walachian ? What is that ?
RAKOWITZ
A Roumanian—against his will.
victoria ( knowingly)
I know. Just like the Irish, who are {imitatinghim)
Englishmen—against their will.
duncker {a middle-class , middle-aged politician , keen
and sagacious , wears whiskers and has a baritone
voice)
We might also compare the case with that of
certain nationally minded Jews.
RAKOWITZ
I don’t care much for Jews.
VICTORIA
Why? There are some wonderful brains among
them. With us at home the first man in the country
is a Jew, I mean Lord Beaconsfield, my mother’s
Prime Minister, formerly Disraeli.
h£l!ne (a Juno-like figure with reddish hair , under a
broad hat, dressed in bright colours but not inelegantly;
her voice is full and rather gushing)
Do you hear that, Janko ? Your Royal Highness
[ 49 ] e
KING AND PEOPLE ACT II
has just decided a quarrel between us. At home no
one supports me!
victoria ( superciliously )
Conservatives are always anti-Semitic. With us
at home it is not so. But you (rather 'pointedly) my
dear Donniges, find it rather nice don’t you (in spite
of your parents’ views) when chance brings you into
contact with some member of that race ?
h£lIne
Personally, I can’t say I know more than one. But
he’s so fascinating that he’s cast a glamour over the
whole race for me.
VICTORIA
A politician ?
h£l£ne
Yes, your Royal Highness. But also a poet, an
orator, and a dancer! A marvel!
duncker ( smiling quietly)
This description seems to me to fit Dr. Lassalle.
victoria {taken aback)
Lassalle? The Democrat? Countess Hatzfeld’s
“ deliverer ”—so-called ?
h£l£ne {enthusiastically)
He is simply splendid! I have no hesitation in
saying, in your Royal Highness’s presence, that
there are not three men of equal gifts in Berlin.
victoria ( smiling maliciously)
I warn you, Herr von Rakowitz, your fiancee is
fluttering round a dangerous flame.
C 50 ]
ff'V
Crown Princess Victoria
[Rischgite
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
h£l1:ne
Ohl—I was only thinking of his mind—your
Royal Highness!
DUNCKER
But he , my dear young lady, he's probably thinking
of your beautiful hair.
VICTORIA
Capital, Duncker!
RAKOWITZ
My fiancee is only joking. Your Royal Highness
mustn’t take such remarks seriously.
victoria ( acidly )
Anyhow, it seems that our fair-haired young friend
has a predilection for foreigners.
[Enter the crown prince in uniform. He is
in his prime , in the early thirties.
Though he is the embodiment of fair-
haired manliness, he is a trifle weak—for
he is easily influenced , more especially
by his wife , whom he adores. They are
well mated , because he has as many
feminine traits in his character as she has
masculine in hers. His manners are
much more amiable than hers , and he is
in every way much more easygoing.
As he enters , all present rise except
victoria. H£l£ne makes a low curtsey,
but he raises her at once.
CROWN PRINCE
Ne vous ddrangez pas, Mademoiselle; we are in the
country. (To the gentlemen .) Glad to see you. Good
morning, my dear Duncker.
t S l J
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
RAKOWITZ
WV were just on the point, your Royal High¬
ness ...
CROWN PRINCE
Well, how does it go with your examination ?
RAKOWITZ
I hope in a few months . . .
CROWN PRINCE
Then I wish you luck. Duncker, just a moment...
VICTORIA (tO H^LFNe)
Now you be careful about this democratic Don
Juanl Good-bye.
(Bows and curtseys , footmen open doors, more
curtseys. Exeunt h£lene and rako-
witz L.; the Lady-in-waiting follows
them.
crown prince ( looking after the others')
What is this obscure lineage that this youth claims
to possess ?
DUNCKER
Old Donniges avers that the family dates from the
sixteenth century.
CROWN PRINCE
They might well be older than the Donniges.
VICTORIA
She’s rather unbalanced 1 Every winter she gets a
new craze, while the Roumanian Toggenburg waits
patiently in the background. At present she is mad
about Lassalle.
C 52 ]
[RiscAgtt~
Crown Prince Frederick William
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
CROWN PRINCE
Lassalle ? That man may be very dangerous to us
someday. A regular brigand! . He’s splitting up the
Liberal Party and is capable of anything.
victoria ( mockingly )
How amazingly like our Prime Minister! (More
seriously.) What’s the matter, Fritz? You look
worried.
CROWN PRINCE
You can’t get through a day in Prussia without
having something to worry you 1
DUNCKER
Has your Royal Highness already heard about
to-day’s sitting ?
crown prince (‘wearily seating himself in an armchair)
I’ve just come from Berlin. (A pause. Victoria
goes over to crown prince.) Do you know what Bis¬
marck has done ?
victoria
Closed the session ?
crown prince (shaking his head)
Something much bolder than that. Virchow had
demanded that the Government should ask for a Vote
on Account on the ground that they couldn’t spend
money which had not been voted.
victoria
Far too proper 1 And he ?
[ S3 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
CROWN PRINCE
-declared, as the House obviously intended to
reject the Budget for 1863 , he preferred not to
introduce it at all, and should for the time being
carry on the Government without a budget.
DUNCKER (sOttO VOCe)
God bless my soul! It’s a coup d'etat\
[Victoria, who had retired to the terrace ,
makes a sign to her husband behind
duncker’s back. Crown prince rises .
CROWN PRINCE
Excuse me, I’ve got something pressing....
DUNCKER
Your Royal Highness!
VICTORIA
Au revoir. [Exit duncker L.
('With decision , walking quickly up to crown prince.)
Now’s the time! Fritz, you must act.
crown prince (still seated)
Act! I, who may be called to power at any moment,
am the only man in the country who can 7 act.
victoria ( walking up and down , sometimes stopping in
front of him )
What ? Whose business is it to open the King’s
eyes, if not his successor’s ?
CROWN PRINCE
At the Council of Ministers yesterday I did oppose.
C 54 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
VICTORIA
Who is to know that ?
CROWN PRINCE
It is recorded in the minutes.
victoria ( mockingly )
And I suppose you’ll read the minutes to your
people when the day of reckoning comes ? Does the
daily flood of correspondence from all parts of the
country leave you cold ?
CROWN PRINCE
You mean that I should publicly . . .
victoria (standing over him )
To-day there has been nothing more nor less than
a coup d'etat. Duncker, who is nothing if not moder¬
ate, saw that at once. If you don’t speak it means you
agree. You must take the earliest opportunity of
letting the country know your opinion 1 With us at
home anyone would do itl
crown prince ( smiling )
Even the Prince of Wales ?
VICTORIA
He’s never placed in such a position. But, here in
Prussia, if you openly declare that you disapprove of
the step which has been taken by the Government,
you will break through a dull old tradition and
advance the progress of your country by fifty years
at one blow.
C 55 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
crown prince {reflectively)
Supposing we got hold of the more sensible people
in the Upper House, and had a meeting.
victoria (laughing shrilly)
Oh dear! Oh dear! These old things who went
to sleep about the time of the Holy Alliance! Com¬
pared with them our House of Lords is positively
anarchical! You must speak out.
CROWN PRINCE
If I kept quiet now, the way would be open for me
later.
victoria ( vehemently)
Later! Don’t you see that later—and sooner
rather than later—the overstrained rope may break?
Do you want us to drag out the rest of our days in the
Scottish Highlands? Listen to what my mother
writes to-day. {Reading.) “ All London is excited
over your Prime Minister. Seeing, however, that he
is what he is, you would be wise to be very critical
and careful in what you say to anyone.” I shouldn’t
like to see the Times to-morrow! {Grimly.) Or,
rather, I should !
crown prince
Calm yourself, Victoria!
VICTORIA
Calm myselfl When my honour, my children,
our future are all at stake? An arrogant Junker,
selected by the shortsightedness of the old King, is to
have the power of settling our future I Do you
suppose that I mean to lose power and life because
C ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
your Prussian ideas of government are still at the
stage of pigtails ? [Enter Footman hurriedly.
FOOTMAN
Your Royal Highness, their Majesties are just
driving up to the front garden-gate 1
both (springing to their feet)
Without notice 1
[Enter a Lady-in-waiting, who helps the
princess to arrange her dress. A
Footman brings the crown prince his
cap. Two others quietly range through
the pavilion putting things to rights.
victoria (close to her husband in front R.)
You must tell him!
crown prince
If I have an opportunity.
victoria (suddenly becomes coaxing and stands right in
front of him , exciting all the power of her girlish charms)
No, Fritz, you must make one!
crown prince
But, Vicky, the servants!
victoria ( unabashed , throws her arms round his neck)
Promise me! You must promise mel Dear
Fritz, please promise me.
crown prince {embracing her, smiling a little irritably)
Well, well, my darling, I promise.
[Meanwhile the king and queen have come
[ 57 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
through the garden behind them , and are
standing at the foot of the steps. The
Servants have withdrawn , except an old
Attendant of their Majesties. The
spouses turn and hasten towards them
affectionately , though somewhat startled
and embarrassed.
king {kissing victoria, much amused)
I’m afraid we’ve disturbed a domestic idyll!
VICTORIA
Papa! We have been married four years!
[General family greetings, all coming to the
front of the stage. The queen sits down
and her Attendant places a footstool
for her.
QUEEN
And how’s the boy getting on ?
VICTORIA
As naughty as ever, mamma!
KING
I’m glad to hear it. Till he is eight years old he
can stay with the women and do what he likes. After
that he has his duty to his Fatherland. I’d like to see
him.—No, just let him go on playing by himself;
that’s the best way to get to know children.
[Exit king L., accompanied by the crown
prince. The Ladies remain seated in
front R.
[ 58 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
QUEEN
It is still as beautiful out here as if October weren’t
upon us.
victoria (uncertain of her opening)
Yes, but on our morning rides we’re already
beginning to see a little hoar frost on the leaves.
queen (feeling her way cautiously)
Does Fritz ride with you every day ?
victoria (surer of her gambit)
Alas, he is often too busy now.
queen (smiling rather coldly)
Too much politics ?
victoria ( aggressively )
Too little, mamma.
queen (sententiously)
Enjoy your care-free life while you may, my
children! These years of quiet happiness will never
return.
victoria (on the war-path )
Is Coblenz such a pleasant memory?
queen (with an exaggerated sigh )
The best years of our life!
victoria (rather spitefully)
After all, mamma, every season has its charm.
queen (as above)
But, my dear, spring can never be brought back.
[An uncomfortable pause.
[ 59 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
VICTORIA
Papa ... seems to be quite in the saddle again ?
QUEEN
He has many worries. Has Frau von Bismarck
called on you yet? What do you think of our
Premier’s wife ?
victoria ( shrugging her shoulders)
Pietistical.
queen (with emphasis)
Piety is certainly her best feature. I wish he had
some of it.
victoria ( interested)
Do you think he is an atheist ?
queen (shocked)
Bismarck? He’s a terrible fellow! He is quite
capable of taking off his coat and mounting a barricade
himself if the people get out of hand. II ne pense
qua la puissance .
victoria
With us at home such a thing would be impossible.
queen (smilingfrostily)
At home, my dear ? Aren’t you at home yet in
your new Fatherland, my child ?
victoria (equally chilly , in English )
I beg your pardon, your Majesty.
QUEEN
Well, well, we can at any rate talk German.
[The queen rises as the two men return.
i 60 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
king (gaily)
Quite a charming youngster, your boy! But you
must check him a bit so that he doesn’t get too much
of an idea of himself. {Threatening playfully.) Mind,
you’re not to make him too English!
victoria (j politely )
How can you think such a thing, papa ?
king {smiling sweetly)
My child, you are cleverer than you pretend.
queen {changing the subject )
And the baby ?
KING
Doesn’t count yet.
QUEEN
Ah well, he counts for us women.
[Exit queen with victoria, L., manifestly
with the object of leaving the men by
themselves.
king (with a change of manner , gravely and kindly)
You look pale. Is anything troubling you ? Tell
me frankly.
CROWN PRINCE
I read the papers, father.
king {sitting down)
Drop them and go shooting. Or would you like
to travel ?
CROWN PRINCE
Father, that would look like running awav.
[ 6i ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
king (earnestly)
You are not in the battle, so there’s no question of
running away.
crown prince (uneasily)
I am being pushed into it. Piles of letters every
day—warning and urging.
king (quietly)
Who urges you ?
CROWN PRINCE
Both sides. “ Take a hand, you are the hope of the
People 1 ” And “ Save the throne by taking a
definite line! ” They’re already saying that some
Guards officers are “ infected.”
king (growling)
My officers interfering in politics ? That would be
the last straw 1
crown prince (smoothly)
Vicky hears rumours from London.
king
Why can’t they mind their own business in London 1
crown prince
After all, we are not alone in the world.
king (sotto voce)
I fear I am.
crown prince (affectionately)
No. Not if you would allow me to explain to you
what the feeling in the country is.
king (gloomily)
At the Council of Ministers you spoke against the
[ 62 ]
SCENE I KING AND PEOPLE
King. I came here to-day, Fritz, to find out what
you mean by it.
CROWN PRINCE
I only spoke against the Ministers.
KING
They are my servants. I alone am responsible.
crown prince ( faltering )
But some people—think that Herr von Bismarck
might drive the King—farther than he either wishes
or intends.
king ( bluntly )
What do you mean ?
CROWN PRINCE
It is said—that he has already—made over his
estates to his brother.
king ( rises ; vehemently)
Slander! Do you know what that man did for me
in those terrible days of March ’48 ? You weren’t
old enough to understand—then!
crown prince ( briskly )
I was seventeen! And it is just on what happened
during those days that I have based my programme.
king (looking at him inquiringly)
And what do you mean by your “ programme ”?
CROWN PRINCE (hotly)
Nothing but an up-to-date and Liberal programme
can give Prussia the Power and the Right to dominate
Germany.
C 63 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
king {after a pause )
I suppose you’ve learned that from Professor
Virchow? What do you mean by “Liberal”?
Didn’t my predecessor grant the country a Constitu¬
tion of his own free will ?
crown prince {as above)
And that is exactly what is now endangered!
What Bismarck said to-day in the Landtag has no
other object than to break this Constitution.
Yiitno{strides towards /^<?crown prince, having suddenly
assumed the threatening air of an officer resenting
an insult )
Break the Constitution which I have sworn to
maintain ? [Faces him angrily.
crown prince { erect , standing to attention )
With my humble duty I beg to place my command
unreservedly at your Majesty’s disposition.
kinc {sharply)
Fine words! I want respect for my feelings, none
of your corpse-like “ obedience.” {More quietly.)
Do you think I don’t understand your Crown Princely
feelings? {Pause.) I also had to wait and hold my
tongue for twenty years and more, and in my case
it meant waiting for a brother hardly older than
myself! {Pause.) And when I was your age and
fell in love, my father kept me on the rack for no less
than five years while the Court officials were caballing
and Crown experts were arguing about her birth—
and in the end I had to take no for an answer. It was
then that I learned to see that the old Prussian disci¬
pline was a higher law than my personal views of
C 64 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
things; and I yielded and held my tongue. ( Suddenly
angry again.) What gives you the right to suspect
that l am capable of breaking my oath ?
crown prince (still standing to attention)
I humbly beg your Majesty’s gracious permission
to state my view of the matter.
king ( brusquely)
I don’t see what prevents you.
crown prince (firmly and more frankly)
If Bismarck goes any further on the path which he
entered to-day, he will dissolve the Landtag, have no
new election, and so complete the royal coup d'etat.
Then revolution will be at the door! If this is to be
the position I ask myself whether I do not owe it to
my children, the rightful heirs of this throne, to
make a public declaration, in the interests of the
dynasty, that I have had nothing to do with it.
king (with rising anger)
You propose to carry the dissension, which was
painfully obvious at the Council of Ministers, into
the public streets? You want to set up a banner so
that the people may choose between father and son ?
It’s mutiny! ( Turns away, sotto voce.) This is,
indeed, a trial sent by God. To-day I begin to
understand the feelings of the young Fritz’s father.
[King sinks into a chair infront R., separated
from the crown prince by the whole
extent of the room. Enter the queen
and the crown princess L.; they grasp
the situation, and instinctively turn to
the crown prince.
[ 65 ] V
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
queen ( severely )
You have angered the King ?
victoria ( anxiously, sotto voce )
You have—spoken ?
crown prince {losing control of himself ’. Pays no
attention to the Ladies, but hurries up to the king)
I cannot stand this!
[<Stands before the king, uncertain what to do.
king (stands up and looks at crown prince, hurt but
calm )
I hear you wish to travel? {Silent amazement.
Then, with cool politeness.) Write to your mother,
Victoria, that you would like to go to Balmoral for
the shooting this autumn.
Scene II
Bismarck’s house. A comfortably furnished sitting-room
with a large table L., a sofa, armchairs, pictures, etc.
Bismarck and count karolyi, both in morning
dress, are seated opposite each other. Karolyi is a
Hungarian gentleman, getting on for forty, very
fashionably turned out. Bismarck is dressed more
simply and comfortably.
karolyi {cheery, but on his guard. Speaks in the
Viennese manner, but with a slight Hungarian accent)
Well, your Excellency, if I may venture to sum up,
the Prussians are cross with us again. So as a punish¬
ment we must copy out {imitates a schoolmaster giving
an imposition) the whole thing ten times.
c «« ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
If you won’t smoke, Count, you’ll place yourself
at a disadvantage, and I hate to see my guests at a
disadvantage!
KAROLYI
And what’s the advantage of smoking?
BISMARCK
Your hands and your eyes are occupied, your nose
is pleasantly stimulated. You are generally happier
and consequently readier to take the initiative.
karolyi ( amused)
Ah, but you must know, your Excellency, that
when one has the honour to be the Austrian Kaiser’s
Ambassador, one is in the fortunate position of not
having to take the initiative. It is the other side who
always want to ask something of us.
bismarck ( significantly )
As regards Prussia, that is one of those illusions
which I was forced to dispel when dealing with your
distinguished colleague at Frankfort.
KAROLYI
But you got on fairly well together there when you
were co-operating in the management of German
unity.
BISMARCK
Do you mean the German Confederation? That
organized German disunity ? That will-o’-the-wisp
was even then on the point of vanishing.
KAROLYI
I should say it was alive and well to-dav!
C <7 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
BISMARCK
A ghost, Count— uno spettro, as your Italian
opponents, our friends, say! ( Standing in front of
karolyi.) If I were a German Austrian I would pray
to God every night: “ O Lord, let these seven
foreign peoples, with their thirty million wretched
Hapsburg subjects, be dispersed to the four winds,
each to its own country and live there happy ever
after. But let us, who are the miserable minority, be
united with our German brothers north of the
Danube, so that we may all pray to Thee in the same
language! ”
karolyi {still quite civil but cunning)
Charmant! Unfortunately, as your Excellency
knows, such a petition is forbidden in our Monarchy.
It would, indeed, be a crime against international
justice.
bismarck {bluntly)
It’s not my prayer. Mine, is different because I am
—a Prussian. {A pause. Sits down again , then
resumes politely.) It’s not my business, and it’s not
in my power, to relieve your Imperial Master of his
alien subjects. Whether, however, we can attain
German unity so long as these strange peoples
(including the noble race of Hungary) are bound up
with you—I don’t really know. I should be greatly
obliged to you, Count, if you could tell me the righit
incantation to use.
karolyi {cheerfully)
After all, have we any need of magic? All we
have to do is to go on working peaceably together—
at the reform of the Confederation 1
C 68 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
bismarck {positively)
We have been operating on that unhappy body for
the last twenty years. I fear there is only one possible
reform: they must choose between you and us.
KAROLYI
But, your Excellency, that would be treason.
You would deprive Germany of our traditional
protection 1
BISMARCK
That error rests on the false assumption that
Prussia requires protection.
KAROLYI
Well, now you must forgive me if I differ! With
all due respect, is this moment, when Prussia is
suffering from serious internal quarrels, the most
appropriate at which to boast of its external power.
bismarck {on his feet) firmly and icily)
None better. For the time being we are governing
rather roughly—it happens to suit us—one move at a
time, always on a cash basis. Vienna overestimates
her power. If Vienna were disposed to carry things
further in the German Confederation without us, we
should have to regard that as a breach of the Federal
Constitution and withdraw our Ambassador from
Frankfort. You will, therefore, be well advised, at
the decisive moment {emphatically )—which is, pos¬
sibly, very near—to go hand-in-hand with Prussia—
or else to remove your centre of gravity to Ofen 1 —in
which case in a future war you would find us on the
side of your opponents.
1 I.e., Budapest.
C 69 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
karolyi {who has listened with amazement , gets up , and
after a pause, continues good-temperedly )
Very well, your Excellency. But if you really
mean what you say, namely, that I should report this
at home—then you certainly wouldn’t be a diplomatist
of our school.
bismarck {verypolitely)
What school are you referring to ?
karolyi (taking it for granted)
The one from which we all come—Metternich 1
bismarck {dryly)
Don’t know it. I’m from Lower Pomerania.
karolyi {smiling uneasily , after a pause)
I must say you did that extraordinarily well! If
one could only gather whether your sphinx-like
Excellency is inclined to France or to Russia.
bismarck {coldly and firmly)
I am Prussian, Count, and if, on due consideration,
the interests required it I should be quite ready—it
would give me the same satisfaction—to see our
troops firing on all the uniforms of Europe—yes on
all .
karolyi {standing up ; after a moment)
That is all extremely in-ter-est-ing! Especially the
suggestion that we might shift our centre of gravity
to Ofen. That is, of course, the dream of every goocl
Hungarian. All the same, I shall take the liberty of
reporting nothing of all this at Vienna; I’ll call again
in a day or two and continue the discussion when
[ 70 3
KING AND PEOPLE
SCENE II
your Excellency is—what shall I say?—less high and
mighty. We can then talk business, as I used to do
with your distinguished predecessors. My compli¬
ments 1
BISMARCK
I shall be delighted at any time I ( At the door.)
You see, you should have smoked!
[Exit karolyi, laughing.
(Alone.) He wants me to think he’s only pretending
to be a fool. And that’s what he really is!
[Enter johannavon bismarck and roon L.
Johanna, between thirty and forty, is
petite, elegant, black-eyed; rather un¬
sociable in general, entirely bound up in
her husband.
JOHANNA
Free at last ?
BISMARCK
Oh no! Not for ever so long yet! But I’ve got a
minute or two. I’m expecting another very interest¬
ing visit presently.
JOHANNA
I kept your friend to see you.
ROON
You’ll soon hate me, like everyone elsel I’m the
one who’s really responsible for all these worries.
bismarck (stands talking to roon, while johanna sits)
I certainly have got into a fine mess! Last
September, when I got your telegram at Avignon,
“ The pear is ripe,” I was in an olive grove with a
[ 7i ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II,
beautiful Frenchwoman and her husband. Yes,
Johanna, and her husband. We were walking by the
Rhone, and I felt as free as in my first year at Gottin¬
gen.
ROON
And yet, three years ago, you didn’t like it when
you weren’t sent fori
bismarck (looking at him combatively , then with a smile')
Yes, Roon! We’re like that. Happiness is
always where we are not. All the same, I had no
notion what a mountain of hostility I should have to
gnaw my way through.
ROON
Don’t indulge yourself with so many hatreds,
Bismarck!
BISMARCK
So you grudge me my one solitary pleasure ? My
ten fingers are not enough to count them on. ( Sits by
johanna on the sofa and playfully counts on his fingers.)
Austria—the German Confederation—the Crown
Prince—the Crown Princess—the Queen. Other
hand: Denmark—( middle finger ) a very important and
formidable enemy—the Queen of England—my dear
Liberal friends— item, six of my Cabinet colleagues.
Johanna, lend me one of your hands; my two are not
enough. [ They laugh.
ROON
Do you feel better now ?
BISMARCK
Sometimes I make up lists like this in my head
when I can’t sleep at night.
C 7* ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
JOHANNA
But you’ve forgotten Napoleon.
bismarck (mysteriously and slyly)
Sh! He’s my great friend! He thinks his com¬
plaisance will be rewarded by the Rhine frontier.
But that transaction, alas! won’t come to anything.
But, in all seriousness, he’s not half so bad as Virchow.
ROON
While you’re in the vein, tell us, who is the worst
of the lot ?
BISMARCK
The very worst thing is the Family Connection!
Everybody’s related to everybody else and conse¬
quently is either for or against everybody else.
Especially the ladies. There’s the Crown Princess;
she’s a sister of the Hesse woman—and therefore
dreads any complication with Denmark. The Queen,
from Weimar, must have Central Germany spared.
The English Queen is married to a Coburg, and thus
related to all Europe, which, however, doesn’t prevent
her from playing off any one of these ties of affection
against another. Even my own King, a knight sans
peur et sans reproche , is always rather afraid of his
managing wife’s criticism, and is for ever boggling at
some point of honour. Of course, all the ladies are
Liberal; that looks well and costs nothing. Govern¬
ment by the harem! {Playfully .) Johanna, look out
for squalls if ever you so far forget yourself as to take
up petticoat politics!
ROON
What a horrible jobl
C 73 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
BISMARCK
You soldiers are the only people to be envied!
It’s—up, let off your muskets and go for ’em 1
ROON
That’s all very well if you’re actually in command
of an army 1 But to sit for ever at a desk, to be always
preparing, to be constantly bothered by civilians
whose heads one would like to knock together, and
not to have the smallest prospect of smelling powder!
BISMARCK
We’re the real heroes!
roon (taking his leave)
There’s nothing for it but to be patient and carry
on. Good morning. [Exit roon.
JOHANNA
Why were you so emphatic about Denmark ?
bismarck (serious and thoughtful)
That was meant for Roon. To-day, particularly, I
want him to think that I’m ready for anything on that
point.
JOHANNA
Doesn’t Roon know all you know ?
BISMARCK
I take care, anyhow, to make him let me know all
he knows. Some news has come in which he hasn’t
heard yet owing to this morning call of his.
JOHANNA
And aren’t you going to tell him ?
C 74 ]
SCENE II KING AND PEOPLE
bismarck (by the window)
I must first prepare the King. He’s quite sure to
call this morning.
JOHANNA
I suppose the King, at any rate, knows your whole
programme.
BISMARCK
At the proper time he hears as much of it as he,
and the moment, can stand.
JOHANNA
I only hope some of them won’t do you a mischief
because of all these plans of yours!
bismarck (kissing her brow )
My dear angel, all they do is to talk!
JOHANNA
Yes, until one of them takes it into his head to
shoot! [Footman enters with a visiting-card.
JOHANNA
Your interesting visitor ?
bismarck (preoccupied Q
Excuse me, my child.
johanna (as she goes out)
Now he’s beginning to have secrets even from me.
(Exit JOHANNA L.
bismarck (with the card in his hand)
They mustn’t meetl It’s now ten I The King
never comes before half-past. (To Footman.) Charles,
C 75 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
you’re to stay by the window. When you see the
King’s carriage turn into the Wilhelmstrasse,
announce that the doctor has come. Now, show the
gentleman in.
[Exit Footman, and re-enters ushering in
lassalle. Bismarck, in his -politest
manner , invites lassalle to be seated.
Lassalle takes out a cigarette , with which
he plays , making the most animated
gestures the while. At first he is
cautious , but he soon falls into his natural
manner. He often stands up> wanders
about the room , fingers a book , and raps
lightly on the table. He is very restless
and nervous , but never transgresses the
bounds of good manners. Bismarck, on
the other hand , speaking more slowly and
less often , leans back comfortably in an
armchair , looking on , at once serious and
amused. Every now and then he takes
a long pull at his cigar , carefully knocking
off the ash . His obvious placidity is in
strong contrast to the manner of his
more nervous interlocutor.
BISMARCK
I have to thank you for your very interesting
pamphlet and also for the care with which it was
wrapped up. It’s a well-known fact that in most
Ministries there are as many eyes too many as there
are brains too few; so a double wrapper is not—
without its uses. Won’t you smoke ? The contents
of your pamphlet also have a double bottom.
[ 76 ]
Ferdinand Lassalle
[Rischfrit'*
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle (smiling)
That, your Excellency, seems at any rate to be the
opinion of the Public Prosecutor, who has confiscated
it and is prosecuting me.
bismarck (ironically)
Don’t tell anyone that I have a copy, else they may
take it away from the Prime Minister himself.
LASSALLE
If I were as tactful as the Prussian Public Prose¬
cutor I should at once publish this splendid advertise¬
ment.
bismarck (still ironically)
I heard with regret that you were forced, on
account of it (with gesture ), to spend some days
outside-
lassalle (also ironically, turning an imaginary key)
Inside, your Excellency, inside!
BISMARCK
I hope you wanted for nothing? Books? Writing
materials ?
lassalle (with the same ironical courtesy)
Many thanks. I was admirably looked after.
After all, it comes to very much the same thing
whether a man is chained for a week, let us say, to his
own study by a sprained ankle, or doing time at
Moabit. The noblest minds of Greece kept me
company and lulled me into complete philosophic
cheerfulness. I was perfectly happy. Moreover, the
folly of my conviction will advance my views more
than any pamphlet I could write.
C 77 _]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
BISMARCK
Console yourself. Quite recently the magistrates
somewhere or other let off a man who had publicly
slandered me with the light sentence of a week’s
imprisonment on the ground that, as a matter of fact,
I’m a very bad Minister!
LASSALLE
Usually I manage to get myself acquitted. This
time my Liberal judges were particularly horrified
because I had dared to demand Universal Suffrage—•
a reform which we’ll undoubtedly have within a year
or so.
BISMARCK
So soon as all that, Herr Doctor ?
LASSALLE
Sure as Fate. Your Excellency will grant it
yourself, if, as I hope, you last so long.
BISMARCK
Had you to give bail ?
LASSALLE
A hundred thalers! An insultingly small sum 1
bismarck {with restrained irony )
One hundred thalers for a man like youl That is
even more humiliating than I thought the week was
in my case. You should lodge a protest, and demand
that the amount should be increased.
lassalle {laughing)
Our friends the Liberals should pay it—seeing
that they call themselves the “ moral party.”
[ 78 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
You won’t get our German idealogues to drop that
virtuous pose. Their digestions wouldn’t work
without it. Politics being merely the art of the
practicable, our professors find it an embarrassing
topic, like drawers, which of course we must have,
but conceal from the public gaze.
LASSALLE
Isn’t our next job to deprive these gentlemen of
their hundred and sixty seats ?
BISMARCK
Just my dream! But how ?
LASSALLE
Dissolve Parliament; reform the franchise.
BISMARCK
A very doubtful method. Should one commit
suicide for fear of death ?
LASSALLE
You approve of our present franchise ?
BISMARCK
Nothing could be stupider!
lassalle Rhetorically)
What ? And yet you would hesitate to adopt this,
the most approved method of the modern Dictator,
the very one which Napoleon used to fortify the
Imperialist reaction ?
C 79 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
bismarck (smiling)
The fact that you recommend it must of itself
make me hesitate.
LASSALLE
I do not expect, your Excellency, to convert you
to my views of things in general. But, as you’re speak¬
ing in terms of practical politics, it seems to me that
the gulf between us is not unbridgeable. You’re
fighting the Liberals; so am I. Nine-tenths of the
nation are loyal to the King and are prevented from
showing it only by the present mode of election.
bismarck ( smiling)
In the towns, however, you have been labouring,
with terrifying success, to induce the people to change
this laudable attitude.
lassalle ( evasively )
That—these are things that can’t work out for a
long time to come. For the moment co-operation
between us seems possible. Afterwards we can
resume the fight with greater bitterness.
BISMARCK
Are you already strong enough, Herr Doctor, to
offer us an alliance ?
lassalle ( rapidly )
Did you not just speak of my “ terrifying ” suc¬
cesses ?
BISMARCK
They are probably exaggerated by your Press ?
'[ 80 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle (conceitedly )
Well, I may venture to boast that on the Rhine
and the Ruhr the workers gave me a regular triumphal
procession, took out the horses and drew my carriage
themselves, and filled the halls to bursting 1
Bismarck {still ironical)
Very flattering indeed 1 And on what basis do you
suggest that this marriage of incompatibles is to be
arranged ?
LASSALLE
I am against Napoleon because he has betrayed the
Democracy; you are against him—for other reasons.
I am against Austria because it is reactionary; you,
in spite of that.
BISMARCK
What would you do about Austria?
lassalle {rhetorically , standing while bismarck keeps
his seat)
First, we must reform the Army as you and Roon
have planned. Then we must invade Austria, send
all the Hapsburgs and their alien crew to the devil,
deliver the German Austrians, and join them to the
Confederation under the headship of Prussia.
bismarck {smoking, attentively )
Hm! And when would all this begin ?
LASSALLE
Why not to-day? Could any day be more suitable
for such a plan ? The King of Denmark died last
night.
bismarck {rather surprised)
So the special editions are out already ?
C SI ]
o
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
LASSALLE ( CUrtly )
No. But I heard it an hour ago. (Resuming his
former tone.) The new King will grant a Constitution
to Schleswig-Holstein. The quarrel about the
duchies will break out again in the Confederation.
The opportunity we want for breaking with Austria
lies before us! That’s how Frederick the Great
would have acted. The very day the colours fade
on the frontier posts of the South German States a
united Germany is an accomplished fact.
[Stands expectantly in front of bismarck. A
long-pause.
bismarck (rising slowly )
In every age there have been men who can see
truly into the future, but who haven’t the patience
to wait for it.
lassalle (changing his tone)
Very good, very good indeed! Is that in Lessing ?
bismarck (dryly)
Perhaps it is. At any rate, I say it now.
lassai le (adroitly)
Ah! I understand your plans even when you veil
them.
BISMARCK
Yours are as clear as day.
LASSALLE
And so they should be! Unlike you, we have
nothing to conceal. We bring a new idea.
[ 82 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
The idea of a republic is as old as humanity.
LASSALLE
As old, you might say, as monarchy, which was a
popular monarchy once. That’s why we must seize
the chance of bringing the people on the stage again
to support it.
BISMARCK
Of what period and of what people are you
speaking ?
lassalle {more slowly , significantly)
Of Prussia and to-day! I have long followed your
career from a distance, your Excellency, and I
understand men if I understand anything. It may be
that you are the Man chosen by Destiny to bring
about the union of the Germanic races. Allow a
Socialist to implore you to do it with the people, not
against them!
BISMARCK
I have never been an enemy of the people. That
is an invention of the Liberals. But our people can
only be held together through their dynasties. (In a
lower tone.) Unfortunately, they are not yet fit to
govern themselves.
lassalle ( -passionately )
You are wrong! They are the most intelligent
nation in Europe—certainly not inferior to England,
which governs itself. All that’s the matter with them
is that they have been docile too long 1 Did not a King
of Prussia, here in Berlin, once refuse to accept the
Crown from the hands of the People ? Be warned.
C 83 ]
ACT II
KING AND PEOPLE
Do not repeat the mistakes of 1848 ! Give the Ger¬
mans a trial. You will find them as ripe as you’ll
let them be. Leave the Princes in their place for all
I care, but create a strong German Parliament
through which the People can govern themselves.
If you do this men will raise altars in your honour 1
BISMARCK
I don’t want any altars. We are all fallible and
liable to go astray.
lassalle ( beseechingly, but quietly)
Destiny has turned towards you and does not veil
her face. If you have been chosen to make a reality
what we have been trying to do for fifty years, and if
you build your house on the Throne only, instead of
anchoring it deep in the masses of the people, you
will implant enmity against the Throne in these
masses, and on some unlucky day they will rebel—
and you will have brought about exactly what you
wished to avoid!
BISMARCK ( coldly )
All the better for you if I make this mistake. It
will make vour revolution certain.
LASSALLE
What you could create to-day is a King by Grace
of the People who would no longer hold his crown by
Divine Right. What we have in mind is something
that must come in the long run, and, do what you
will, you can only hasten its advent. {Passionately
raising his voice.) A time will come when no Euro¬
pean Prince, as he looks down from heaven, will be
able to descry his grandson on the Throne on which he
C 84 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
himself had sat too proudly. A time will come when
all the Crowns of Europe will roll in the dust and
nobody will care to pick them up. A time will
come—- [Enter Footman.
FOOTMAN
Your Excellency, the doctor has come! [Exit.
LASSALLE
I beg your pardon.
[Lassalle, in order to regain control of himself,
crosses to the window, where his interest
is suddenly aroused by what he sees.
BISMARCK
It is the lot of those of us who are getting old to
be afflicted by all kinds of ailments incidental to this
mortal life. You are too young to have visitors of this
sort. I hope soon to have another talk with you.
LASSALLE
At any time you like to send for me. But not
unless. [Going.
BISMARCK
This way, if you don’t mind; it leads to the back
entrance through the garden. If anyone saw you
coming out in the Wilhelmstrasse, our “ alliance,” as
they term it, would be in all the papers to-morrow.
And that might—do you harm, Herr Doctor.
LASSALLE
I can’t hope that it would do you any good, so I
will go through the garden. (At the door , smiling.)
By the way, your doctor must be a very great man.
[ ]
KING AND PEOPLE ACT II
He came, I see, in a royal carriage, and everyone is
turning to look at him.
bismarck (also smiling)
You don’t say so. Just like the future President
of the German Republic!
[They greet each other still smiting; exit
lassalle. Bismarck returns to the
room. Enter a Footman, dusts his
boots, adjusts his tie, and exit.
I only hope he has not spoken to the Queen since the
news from Denmark arrived!
[Exit through open door. Steps heard on the
staircase. An Aide-de-camp appears,
then the king, then bismarck behind
him. The door is closed.
king (cheerfully)
What do you say to this stroke of luck ?
BISMARCK
I am glad to find your Majesty in this humour.
KING
To take to one’s bed just before the conflict and to
die with a good conscience! The King of Denmark
is to be envied for God’s goodness to him.
BISMARCK
I am more interested in the fortunate development
of the situation for Prussia which the King’s sudden
death—( produces a telegram) —Unrest in Copenhagen.
The new King will proclaim a Constitution for
Schleswig-Holstein and thus restore our freedom of
action.
C 86 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
KING
What freedom ?
BISMARCK
Freedom to take instant and resolute action to
protect the mouth of the Elbe for all time from the
guns of Denmark.
KING
To take instant action ? But I have absolutely no
rights over the two duchies ?
BISMARCK
Rights, your Majesty? Had your father better
claims to the Rhine, his father to Poland, Frederick
the Great to Silesia? All your predecessors have
enlarged the Kingdom.
king ^uneasily)
It may be so. But that kind of thing can be under¬
taken only by such as have peace in their own country.
(Goes silently to the window , then turns round abruptly .)
Or am I doing injustice to the Crown Prince ?
BISMARCK
A son may have right on his side in a quarrel with
his father—but never in a quarrel with his King.
Who will obey when the Heir Apparent is in revolt?
KINO
But they torment me also about my oath to observe
the Constitution. This must all be set right. I will
send for legal and spiritual advisers to reassure me.
BISMARCK
It is for the King to interpret the Constitution
according to his own conscience.
C 87 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
KING
I shrink from the discredit which this controversy
may bring upon the country.
BISMARCK
Rather is it an honour, your Majesty, and one
which could come only to a nation like the German,
consisting of so many independent units.
KING
But it hits me personally! There are overwhelming
signs of it 1 ( Shocked , in a low voice.) Even the people
in the streets are beginning to avoid saluting me 1
BISMARCK
Then I advise you to tell the first one you meet to
be good enough to keep his hat on!
KING
You can still jest in these threatening times! But
you will learn to tremble! I see well enough what
the end of it all will be! In the Schloss-Platz there,
under the windows of my palace, your head will be
cut off and a little later mine too 1
Et aprhs , sire ?
BISMARCK
KING
Aprhs ? Why, we'll be dead!
BISMARCK
We must all die, your Majesty. Could we wish
for a more honourable death ? You, for your Royal
Rights by the Grace of God; I, in the service of my
King and Master.
C 88 ].
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
king (with animation)
You are really the only man who knows how to
cheer me up! You believe in our power to win!
bismarck {with fire)
Young David’s only weapons were pebbles from
the brook, but his bold heart brought him victory!
I feel something of the same spirit. God has not
abandoned Prussia yet. {After a pause, in an altered
and more sober manner .) As, however, our faith in
God should issue in action, I have made arrange¬
ments by which we can now concentrate fifty thousand
men in any part of the country at six hours’ notice.
king {drawing a long breath)
You raise my courage I But in the meantime, look
out for yourself. They are quite ready to seize the
private property of Ministers who spend money
without the consent of Parliament.
bismarck {significantly)
And what would your Majesty direct me to do
about that?
king {embarrassed)
I also—have children. We might, perhaps, con¬
sider the question of transferring your estates.
bismarck {firmly)
When I think it likely that my house may be set
on fire by my own fireworks, could I, honestly, take
out a fire insurance policy? If your Majesty were to
command this, I should simply ask leave to resign!
king (j relieved)
I knew itl You, too, are an idealist 1
c *9 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
Bismarck (protesting vehemently)
Certainly not, your Majesty! (Then gruffly .) All
I want is to get through life decently. I have, how¬
ever, just seen an idealist. Lassalle has been here.
KING
The Jewish visionary ? Do you wish to buy him ?
BISMARCK
He’s not for sale. I mean to use him for a little.
KING
But I hear he is quite crazy!
BISMARCK
Why? He wants to unify Germany. Unfortun¬
ately it amuses him to get intoxicated from time to
time with the applause of a few thousand working
men.
king ( reflectively )
There’s someone else who wants to unite Germany!
I suppose he too has his own prescription-?
BISMARCK
Not so bad: seize Schleswig and dismember
Austria.
KING
Utopian!
BISMARCK
Well, Utopia sometimes very quickly becomes
reality when the heavy guns come up.
king (standing up)
What are you hiding from me, Bismarck?
[ 9 ° ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
I told Count Karolyi a few home truths this
morning.
KING
You wish to provoke Austria ?
BISMARCK
I want to use her, and so I have threatened her.
KING
Immediately ? Use her ?
bismarck (firmly)
In order to enter into the inheritance of the King
of Denmark.
KING
With this Landtag in our rear?
bismarck (taking up a document)
I wanted to lay this Order before your Majesty.
It would free us at one blow.
king (looking at it)
I see it is the dissolution of the Landtag 1
BISMARCK
Why should that alarm your Majesty; the
Constitution gives you this right ?
KING
Yes, in order to have a new election! Would you
risk that in the present temper of the country ?
BISMARCK
We could wait a bit.
C 9i ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
KING
How long ?
Bismarck (weightily)
Until our victories glorify the Army which they
are now scheming to destroy! Does it please your
Majesty to affix your signature!
[ Holding out the paper.
king (hesitating)
In what circumstances would you use it?
bismarck ( grimly)
I should like—in any circumstances—to feel that
I have it in my breast pocket.
king (looking gravely at bismarck)
A dangerous path! \He signs the order.
bismarck (putting document in his breast pocket)
Through danger—to victory, your Majesty!
Scene III
The Diet. A corner of the chamber; in the background
are seen some of the semicircular rows of seats. In
the middle , R., is the Tribune , the President’s raised
seat above , and the desk for the speakers below.
Adjacent is the Ministerial Bench. There is a full
house; most of the members are seated , but some
are standing in the gangways. As the debate
proceeds there is a general movement towards the
front. On the Government Bench sit bismarck,
C 9^ ]
SCENE III KING AND PEOPLE
roon, and six other Ministers. Roon is speaking
when the scene begins.
roon (from his place)
... the Resolutions of the Majority would jeopard¬
ize the safety of the country; they would expose us
unprotected to any enemy who chose to attack us.
Of course, what you put in your Resolutions is not
what you really want; if it were you would have to
stop calling yourselves patriots.
[Angry interruptions. Cries of “ Insolence 1
We are no worse Prussians than the
Generals l Withdraw !” The presid¬
ent sounds his bell.
PRESIDENT
I must ask you to let the Minister of War finish
his speech.
ROON
What you are doing now, gentlemen, is merely
factious. By means of obstruction you hope to get
rid of a Ministry you dislike. That is all you want.
But so long as we enjoy the confidence of our Master,
we will not give way!
VOICES
Neither will we!
ROON
I take my stand on that as a soldier, and as the
responsible head of an Army that was victorious at
Rossbach and Leuthen, at Leipzig, at Belle Alliance,
and on many another battlefield, and once more call
upon you to vote the money for which we have asked.
[Cries of “ Not a groschen for this Govern¬
ment !" Great disorder.
C 93 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 11
PRESIDENT
The Prime Minister is in possession of the House.
[Some Members come nearer.
FIRST MEMBER
Come on! It’s Otto the Great himself!
SECOND MEMBER
He’ll be sure to put his foot in it!
[Bismarck rises. A sudden calm. He
speaks with studied courtesy and is most
business-like.
BISMARCK
Gentlemen! Every aspect of the question which
has led to such regrettable friction between the
Government and the Representatives of the People
has been thoroughly examined from the point of view
of constitutional law. I have now the honour to
report the results of that examination to the House.
In the first place, as the House will recollect, you
reduced the Army vote by one-fifth, whereupon the
Upper House threw out the whole vote. What does
the Constitution prescribe in such a case as that?
Nothing. There’s a hole here. (Shouts of laughter.
Cries: “ A hole ? He's found a hole in the Constitu¬
tion ! ” Grimly.) I said “ a hole.” (Silence.) The
Constitution confers rights on the Landtag alone.
But on the other hand the Landtag has no rights out¬
side the Constitution. The King, on the contrary,
derives none of his rights from the Constitution. His
Royal prerogative is independent of and unimpaired
by it. (Disorder. Cries of “ Jesuit! Very good!
Bravo ! ”) If, therefore, a doubtful question arises
as to the respective powers of the Crown and Par-
[ 94 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
liament the King’s free judgment must decide. This
House has used its rights in a way which would
destroy both the Army and the Country, so the King
as bonus paterfamilias, as the Head of the Family, if I
may so put it—( Cries of “ Spendthrift! ”)—as the
Head of the Family, has no choice but to take the
conduct of affairs into his own hands. Once more
then, I ask you, even now, to accede to our proposal.
[Dissent and uproar.
PRESIDENT
The debate is open. Dr. Virchow.
virchow [goes to the Tribune amid vociferous applause.
Speaks frankly , pointedly , and rather viciously )
Gentlemen! The Minister of War has accused us
of lack of patriotism. The most patriotic thing that
he could now do for this unhappy country would be to
resign his post as soon as possible. ( Loud applause .)
By so doing he would avoid polluting his military
honour by a scandalous breach of the Constitution
he has sworn to observe. The veil is torn, and anyone
can see that this Government have now openly
unfurled the banner of absolute monarchy. ( Tumul¬
tuous applause .) But the banner of the Constitution
which the people won for themselves at the cost of so
much toil and suffering, lies in tatters on the ground 1
The King swore to observe it, and he must keep his
oath. As things are, what does his adviser do ? He
constructs a hole ! [Shouts of laughter.) He simply
cuts out the Landtag’s right to exist and declares
that, as we cannot agree, the King must decide. For,
says he, the Landtag must not put constraint on the
Crown! I ask myself, does this perversion of the
truth come from innocence or impudence ? [Cries of
[ 95 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT II
“ Impudence ! ”) We no longer have a Constitution;
only a scrap of paper remains in our hands. I must
say I revere the long-suffering patience of the
Prussian people 1 The reply of a more excitable
nation to such conduct as this would be revolution.
{Storms oj applause and uproar. The president rings
his bell . Continuing. ) For fifty years Prussia has
enjoyed profound peace. What need have we of a
new Army? {Loud applause .) Is war anywhere in
sight? We want to know. {Applause?) The new
Prime Minister being what he is, we may not un¬
reasonably suspect that a very different employment
for the new army is in contemplation. Perhaps he
wants to fortify himself against internal troubles, and
intends to counter our constitutional refusal of supply
with civil warl {Great sensation.) I see he is going
to follow me, and I note the storm-signal on his brow.
Very likely he will at last show his true colours.
{With passionate gestures?) He who sits there, gentle¬
men, is the same Herr von Bismarck-Schonhausen
who in 1848 opposed the first steps towards Consti¬
tutional Government, who incited the present King
to fire on citizens engaged in a peaceful demonstration,
and who, finally, raised his voice at Erfurt against
German unity 1 {Uproar.) I say that, for the last
month, following the policy of this Government has
been like watching the antics of a rope-dancer when
you wonder every moment that he doesn’t come to
grief.
[ Storms of applause and protracted disorder.
President rings his bell.
first member
In view of the overwhelming effect of this speech,
I move the adjournment of the debate.
C 96 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
VOICES
Adjourn! Adj ourn!
PRESIDENT
The Prime Minister has already notified his desire
to speak.
[A cold and sudden silence. Bismarck
speaks at first rather gruffly , restraining
his excitement with difficulty; after¬
wards more and more passionately.
BISMARCK
The Government has no intention of making the
declaration that the previous speaker has demanded.
(Hear! Hear!) The King will decide on peace or war
without consulting you. If you refuse the necessary
funds, we shall take them where we can find them.
(Cries of “ Insolence ! ”) That does not mean that
we are contemplating war, though when Professor
Virchow refers to a fifty years’ peace, I must say I
think that his researches in the dissecting-room on the
corpses of men and animals have rather impaired his
understanding of the policy which is necessary for a
living State.
[Stormy dissent and cries of “ Enough ! ”
PRESIDENT
I must ask the Prime Minister to keep to the
subject.
bismarck (turning sharply , in a threatening tone)
Do you mean to say I am out of order, Mr. Presid¬
ent? I could easily devote an hour to the person
who has thought fit to make a personal attack on me,
and to what he has said, but, it seems, I am not
[ 97 ] h
ACT II
KING AND PEOPLE
allowed to make any reply. However—( ironic pause)
he is beneath my notice. ( Cries of “ Shame! ”
After a pause , more coldly .) “ Shame ” is an ex¬
pression of disgust and contempt. These feelings,
gentlemen, with which we all have good reason to be
familiar, I am too polite to express. ( Interruption .)
Is war anywhere in sight ? asked the previous speaker.
Napoleon, gentlemen, has a war every two or three
years. In Galicia revolution is imminent. Russia has
half a million men under arms. The Balkans are
seething. We must not be unprepared in the
presence of all this. Without dreaming of any plans
of conquest and merely to meet this situation, Prussia
needs a strong army. (Dissent.) You have, however,
spoken of German unity, which, it is said, I opposed
so strongly. (Aggressively.) Why, then, have you
not yet achieved unity? What have the professors
and the other dilettanti been doing for us with all their
fine phrases? It is you who are to blame, you and
your factious spirit—which is the curse of Germany,
and which—before God and before History—I say is
guilty of having kept German brothers apart these
fifty years. (Uproarious dissent. Crescendo.) Shout
as you like! Fill the air with your impotent cries!
Henceforth we shall know how to extricate this
fateful question from the preciosities of your rhetoric!
We shall put the Kings of Prussia in a position to
forge their weapons for themselves, so that, in spite
of you alf they may one day bring the struggle for
German unity to a victorious conclusion. (Violent
uproar. Members press to the front) Come on,
gentlemen. I have a devil in me, and in spite of your
supreme authority which changes its face every three
years, and in spite of your strangle-hold on the Army,
[ 98 J
SCENE III KING AND PEOPLE
I mean to prepare the weapon which will achieve
German unity. For Germany is looking, not to
Prussia’s Liberalism, but to Prussia’s Power. And
German unity will be achieved, not by your speeches
and your majorities, not by your newspapers and
your shooting-matches, but by blood and iron.
[Bismarck is reduced to silence by the torrent
of interruptions. The president rings
his bell in vain. Amid the cries a loud
voice from the rear is clearly audible.
VOICE
Bloodhound!
bismarck (i turning towards the interrupter and raising
his voice above the clamour)
Who called out that? (A sudden silence. Then,
to the general amazement , bismarck descends the steps
and forces his way through the crowd of Members. All
give way to him. In the midst cf the crowd.) Let the
coward show himself!
[!Tremendous excitement. Cries of “ Order! ”
president
I must call both the unknown interrupter and the
Prime Minister to order, for insulting a member of
the House.
[Bismarck turns round , storms up to the
Tribune , stands menacingly right in front
of the president’s chair, and shakes his
fist in the president’s face. He has
quite lost control of himself .
bismarck
I am not a Deputy, Mr. President! If you presume
[ 99 ]
KING AND PEOPLE ACT II
to call His Majesty’s Ministers to order, I beg to
return the compliment I
PRESIDENT
You are mistaken, your Excellency! The disci¬
pline of this House, for which I alone am responsible,
extends to everyone under its roof.
[Loud cries of “ Bravo ! ”
Bismarck (returns abruptly to his place and pulls out a
document )
Then I have to communicate to the House a
message from His Majesty. (Sudden silence. All
crowd round him. Reading .) “ On the requisition
of my Prime Minister, I declare that the House of
Representatives is dissolved. The date of the new
elections will be made known later. Wilhelm Rex.”
[Bismarck then leaves the House followed
by the Ministers.
virchow (raising his voice above the noise )
We will impeach the Ministers of the Crown!
\Tumult.
[ IOO ]
ACT III
Scene I
Lassalle’s house, as in Act I, Scene II. Lassalle,
elegant and nervous, is in conversation with three
poor but decently dressed weavers, each of whom
has a glass of liqueur before him. Two of them
are evidently ill at ease, gaping awkwardly at the
pictures and rugs of the richly furnished room, like
peasants who have come to present their birthday
greetings to the lord of the manor.
LASSALLE
So they didn’t show you up the main staircase of
the palace ?
first weaver (joung and good-humoured, but dull and
sh l)
Oh, the staircase was fine enough, that I will say.
But the King’s own staircase must be a good bit
wider.
second weaver (joung, revolutionary, keen )
It was wet and no doubt the palace servant was
afraid we poor weavers might dirty the steps. So,
of course, they took us up the back staircase, like they
always do, Herr Doctor.
LASSALLE
Hm! And did they keep you waiting long?
FIRST WEAVER
A good hour, I’m sure. But it was in a beautiful
E ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
gold room, with everything very nice. And after all,
it wasn’t so very long, when you think of all the King
has to do.
lassalle ( rhetorically )
He has nothing more important to do than to listen
to the voice of his People! And what about the
Lord Chamberlain ? Had that puppy the impudence
to give you a lecture beforehand on how to behave.
FIRST WEAVER
He’s a civil gentleman, Herr Doctor, that I will
say.
second weaver ( sulkily )
But he didn’t ask us to take so much as a drop of
anything!
third weaver (old and tired)
Damn it, Emil, how you do talk ! We weren’t
asked to a wedding!
LASSALLE
When he did come, was he stuck up, or nice and
friendly?
FIRST WEAVER
Eh, Herr Doctor 1 What a fine old gentleman the
King is, to be sure! He shook hands with us all and
then he said—now, what was the first thing he said ?
I was all in a muddle!
THIRD WEAVER
He said he knew very well-
second weaver ( sharply )
The first thing he did was to look us up and down
[ 102 ]
SCENE I KING AND PEOPLE
as if he had never seen such poor devils in his life
before!
lassalle ( eagerly )
There, you see ? That was my ideal The King is
not a bad fellow. But those about him never let
him know of the sufferings of his people. I wanted
him , for once, to see for himself what poverty means 1
Tell me all about it; it’s very important for us! It is
something quite new in Prussian history! You are
pioneers, so to speak! What did he say ?
SECOND WEAVER
Fine words, Herr Doctor, nought else!
lassalle {angrily)
Fine words! I suppose he-
FIRST WEAVER
Who is the leader of our deputation ? You or I ?
LASSALLE ( Sitting )
Well! Well! Tell your story your own way.
FIRST WEAVER
First of all he said he was glad that his Silesian
weavers had made their way to Berlin. And he is
going to give Herr Reichenheim a good talking to.
lassalle ( beaming )
Didn’t I tell you? That is where we shall score
over these brigands. What next!
FIRST WEAVER
And he is going to send us, right off, eight
thousand thalers out of his own savings 1 And, then,
he’s going to order his Ministers-
[ io 3 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 111
SECOND WEAVER
He never said “ order ”! He said “ I’ll try to
prevail on my Ministers.” That’s what he said.
FIRST WEAVER
To get the State to intervene and help us poor
weavers.
lassalle {jumping briskly to his feet, half soliloquizing )
State aid! Just my idea! That brings us very
near universal suffrage!
THIRD WEAVER
And what do we gain, Herr Doctor, from the new
franchise ?
LASSALLE
A majority 1 Liberty! We’ll sweep the country 1
Only have a little more patience!
second weaver ( mockingly )
Now you’re talking just like Bismarck himself!
lassalle (in a different manner )
What ? Did you see Herr von Bismarck too ?
first weaver
Emil says it was him. I don’t know, but my uncle
here—he knew him.
OTHERS
Yes, yes. He was there all right.
SECOND WEAVER
When we came out the big fellow was standing
there, but he didn’t offer to shake hands.
[ I0 4 ]
SCENE 1
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle ( smiling )
I can well believe that. But he spoke to you ?
FIRST WEAVER
Well, he was a little standoffish, but it was all
right. He only asked what the King had said, and
when I told him, he laughed kind of queerly and said,
“ Well, I’m afraid it won’t run to roast goose next
Sunday!”
OTHERS
Yes, that’s just what he said.
SECOND WEAVER
The scoundrel!
THIRD WEAVER
Now, keep cool, Emil!
lassalle ( soliloquizing by the window)
Bismarck beyond a doubt! ( Turns round; rhetoric¬
ally .) Perhaps, my dear comrades, the roast goose
will not be quite so long in coming as Herr Bismarck
believes and hopes! I have a way to force him to
accept universal suffrage.
third weaver ( dispiritedly )
How will that come about, Herr Doctor? You
can’t work miracles with the few supporters you have.
lassalle ( offended)
Are you so sure of that ? The truth always begins
in a small way. We already have four thousand in the
Union. Who can say whether we may not have
half a million in a few months ? If then I give the
word “halt!” Bismarck will have to look for his
Danish war in the fairy book.
[ 10 S ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 111
second weaver (standing up ; violently)
We care nothing, Herr Doctor, for the franchise
or for the war! You’ve worked it all out very fine
with your books and your figures! But we don’t
know about that kind of thing. We want bread for
our children, and wages, higher wages I tell you,
that’s what we want, not votes! And if you can get
that for us the King (for all we care) may be three
times as upset as he is, and his Minister three times
as high and mighty!
FIRST WEAVER
Now, keep cool, Emil. The Doctor means well
by us.
THIRD WEAVER
You’re always shooting off that bloody mouth of
yours.
lassalle {condescendingly, and with difficulty refraining
from sarcasm )
Let him alone! Every one of us is free to express
his opinion, even at the expense of his leader. Have
another glass, my friends. And as for politics, you
had better leave the ways and means to me.
FIRST WEAVER
Yes, indeed, you’ll do it all right! You’ve learned
how.
second weaver {still more sharply , almost frantic )
There’s nothing to learn, I tell you, mates! If
you’ve ever been starving you know all right. And if
Herr Doctor had ever had four weeks sitting at the
loom, I reckon he wouldn’t need any books or any
[ 106 3
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
Union either I When we are half a million in number,
or, maybe, three millions, we won’t need any King,
in his gilded palace, or any Doctor in his fine parlour
either I
[He claps his cap on his head and makes for
the door, where he meets the Servant,
who says something to lassalle in a low
voice.
LASSALLE
What? Ask her to wait a moment. (The Servant
makes a gesture of helplessness .) The devil! Not here.
[Enter h£l£ne von donniges, in a hurry
and rather excited; she is strikingly
dressed.
h£l£ne
Am I de trop ? Ah, you have visitors! (In an
undertone , but much too audibly .) Men of the people,
I see!
lassalle (quickly collecting himself; becomes theatrical
again )
Yes, my dear Hdl&ne! And very discontented
people too l Lassalle has just been having a dressing-
down ! No, no, my friend, allow me! I know what
flame consumes you; for neither books nor art, which
seem to displease you, can harden a heart that has
learned to beat for the oppressed.
THIRD WEAVER
Don’t be offended, Herr Doctor! Don’t mind
Emil and his silly jaw.
C 107 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 111
lassalle (laughing irritably)
On the contrary, I ought to be grateful to you for
frankly revealing the soul of the People freely to their
Leader. ( More sharply and excitedly.) Do you think
that I have any more time to lose than you ? Do you
not understand that it is torture for me too—this
patience ? But I have learned to measure big things
with big measures. From these books, which you
make the mistake of despising, I have learned that an
age is but as a moment, and that we are all poor men.
(Less artificially .) Ah, gentlemen, if you could only
realize how this breast of mine is convulsed when we
have to wait, year after year, for the fulfilments of the
future!
FIRST WEAVER
We are also very grateful to you, Herr Doctor, for
having got the public grant for us from the King.
THIRD WEAVER
No one else troubles about us. And for this, dear
doctor, our children’s children will still be praying
for you.
LASSALLE
Don’t speak of it, my old friend. It is my duty.
A pleasant journey to you, and go on hoping—as I
hope! It cannot be much longer now!
[Exeunt the Three Weavers, muttering and
gesticulating ., each after his own fashion.
h£l!ne ( laughing )
And you think you’re going to make a revolution
with these poor devils ?
[ 108 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle ( seriously and quietly)
For them, not with them. But only a mental one,
H^line. Violence is a back number.
h£l!ne ( changing her mood and throwing her arms round
his neck)
Forgive me, Ferdinand 1 How earnest, how noble
you are 1 How you can inspire the poorest with the
divine fire of your own soul 1
lassalle (gently breaking away from her; darkly)
You are wrong; that’s only flattery. It’s all wrong.
(On the divan , soliloquizing.) Mere self-deception;
one’s dream was of rushing like a flame across the
world—like a torch which a god’s mighty hand might
sweep round the uttermost edge of the hemispheres!
( With rising excitement.) I thought I could convulse
my time like a new planet and so appease the prim¬
ordial fever in my blood. In order to express them¬
selves the great conquerors did not shrink from the
fiery ordeal of war—and all I wanted was to be the
means of bringing happiness to mankind! (Sceptic¬
ally.) At forty what have I attained ? I have written
my fingers sore, preached my throat hoarse, warbled
like a tenor before a hundred judges, bruised my
bones on the plank beds of prisons—all to get four
thousand poor devils of German workmen to found a
Trade Union.
h£l£ne (sitting beside and half-embracing him)
My Knight! My lover! Patience-
lassalle (springing to his feet)
Not patience! What I need is a million working
men! Is there anything more humiliating for a strong
[ 109 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
spirit than to have to press his gifts upon men, instead
of having them snatched from him by eager hands ?
He was right, that insolent blockhead! What has
the happiness of the masses to do with me? I am
weary of striving for power! They must have their
roast goose to-morrow, always to-morrow! I want
rest and happiness and love. I want you, my red fox!
My Valkyrie!
h£li£ne (in his arms )
You have me already, you dark stranger from the
East. ( Coquettishly .) And what do you think I have
brought you ?
lassalle ( letting her go suddenly , in a matter-of-fact tone )
News? From-
h£l£ne
Perhaps from closed rooms, through the cracks of
whose windows my fingers have slipped like the sand
of the sea ?
lassalle {on tenterhooks )
Not from the Wilhelmstrasse ? A message from—
him 1 ( Seizes her arm.) Won’t you speak ?
h£l£ne {angrily)
Must I pay for my gift with a broken wrist ?
[Tears herself away.
lassalle ( excited , hut softly)
Forgive me—but speak.
[Makes her sit down and stands in front of her.
h£l!ne
How rough you can be! Sometimes one would
easily take you for a real tribune of the people.
[ no ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle (with a short laugh )
Is this the way? Well?
h£l£ne
Last night when I was with Rakowitz at the French
Ambassador’s, I suddenly caught sight of Duncker’s
face in the thick of the crowd and went up to him at
once. He’s always glad when he hasn’t got to dance,
but for the first quarter of an hour of our tete-a-tite I
found him as close as a Secretary of State. Finally,
however, he opened up and gave me a pretty clear
notion of Bismarck’s plans, having evidently heard
all about them from the Crown Prince—and gave
me to understand clearly enough that-
LASSALLE
What ? Will he grant the suffrage or will he not ?
HfsLfNE
He will grant it—but after the war 1
lassalle (stamping his foot)
Swindler! Warl I hope he’ll be hit by the first
bullet!
h^lIne
Does it matter now or later-
LASSALLE
If we win everybody will desert the Liberals and
rush to join the Junkers! Our blockheads will be
the first to go 1 Are you sute that Duncker wasn’t
setting a trap for you ?
[ n. ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
h£l£ne
On the contrary; his interest was evidently to
conceal it from you as long as possible.
lassalle (stung to jury , pacing up and down)
I knew it was coming. Exactly what I tried, weeks
ago, to persuade Bismarck not to do! Exactly the
contrary of what he half promised me he would do!
h£l£ne (rather scojfingly )
Bismarck—promised ?
lassalle ( irritated)
Damn it! He did lead me to think so. How he
has done me over this universal suffrage! And I,
I have got my people in the humour for his Schleswig-
Holstein war. I’ve been preaching “ national ”
politics; I’ve been writing for the Kreuzzeitung!
h^lJ'Ne (naively confident)
Take your revenge, Ferdinand, and overthrow him!
lassalle (flattered)
Yes—I’ll see what can be done about that! We
are not finished with each other, my fine gentleman
from Schonhausen! I accept your challenge! I have
only to wave my hand to call the flood back! Look!
Here I have the strength of the masses in one clenched
fist! In my hands I hold the hammer ready to strike
in the fullness of time!
h£l&ne (< delighted)
Yes, you are Thor, the dark god!
[ 112 ]
SCENE 1
KING AND PEOPLE
lassalle ( excited , but still half in jest )
And you are Freia, my red-haired goddess! Look
how well we suit each other. (<Stands with his arm
round her before a mirror.) Do you know this couple ?
He will one day be, in spite of Bismarck and the
Kings, the First Man in Germany. And beside him
stands the wife of the President with her red locks 1
[ Voices , already heard in the ante-room ,
become clearer. H£l1ne and lassalle
fall apart. H£lene remains involun¬
tarily before the mirror to arrange her
disordered hair. Lassalle goes to the
door and listens.
rakowitz ( outside)
Let me in, I say, or I’ll beat the door down 1
[Lassalle instantly opens the door, goes out,
and shuts it behind him.
lassalle {heard outside)
What do you want ?
h£l!ne {inside)
Rakowitz! He has been watching me!
[<She looks for a hiding-place and slips out
through a second door , R. Lassalle is
forced back into the room by rakowitz,
while the Servant looks on helplessly.
LASSALLE
What is the matter with you ? There is no one here.
[Rakowitz rushes in.
rakowitz {in his broken German)
If you are a man of honour, let my betrothed leave
this room where you have shut her up.
[ ”3 ] i
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT 111
lassalle (again quiet, scoffingly )
Your betrothed ? Are you quite sure you’re going
to marry the lady?
rakowitz (boiling with rage )
I am not here to listen to your impertinent ques¬
tions 1
lassalle ( superciliously )
Ah indeed ? And why are you here at all, may I
ask?
RAKOWITZ
Let the lady out. I am responsible for her pro¬
tection.
lassalle
Ah! You think you are in the cave of a dragon
who carries off innocent maidens ? You are mistaken.
I also am a nobleman, only my lineage goes back
some thousands of years further than yours.
RAKOWITZ
We do not recognize the lineage of the house of
David.
LASSALLE
Well, yours is quite unknown to us in Germany.
RAKOWITZ
What have you to do with Germany? You’re an
alien 1
lassalle ( sarcastically )
You, as a Roumanian Christian, however, are
quite at home here.
[ ”4 ]
SCENE I
KING AND PEOPLE
RAKOWITZ
Release my betrothed!
[Lassalle goes to the door and leads h£l!ne
in. She stands amazed between the
two men , looking from one to the other.
LASSALLE
I have no wish to steal this lady. I leave her free
to choose.
rakowitz (turning to her violently)
What are you doing with this fellow ?
lassalle (stepping in front of her)
If you insult the lady, I cannot trust her to your
fury.
rakowitz {quite beside himself)
Criminal 1 Traitor! Gaol-bird! Out of my way 1
lassalle {thrusting him violently backwards)
Scoundrel!
rakowitz ( staggering)
You shall pay for this at the pistol’s point.
lassalle {superciliously)
I shall await your seconds.
rakowitz
Within an hour. [Rushes off.
h£l£ne (with a complete change of manner throws herself
into lassalle’s arms)
For God’s sake, Lassalle! He is a dead shotl
[ ”5 J
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
LASSALLE
And my hand is unsteady, you mean. ( Quietly .)
Come, put on your hat, and I will drive you home.
h£lene (beside herself)
No, let us fly. Let us fly together.
lassalle (superciliously)
Fly? From the threats of a rival? Abduct you
as if I were a nameless beggar ? So that the ruling
class might curl their thin lips at me ? Come along,
Hdtene!
h£l1;ne (as if paralysed)
I don’t know what you mean! [Exeunt both.
Scene II
A Court Ball . Ante-room, of the White Hall, separated
from it by columns and descending steps. Curtains
between the columns, partly drawn up, conceal the
ball-room, of which only a corner is visible. Dancing
couples are seen passing from time to time. Soft
dance music at some distance is heard both before
and after the curtain has gone up. Later it is now
and then interrupted. Everyone is in full Court
dress, with decorations, jewels, and tiaras. In front
is a group of men talking among themselves in low
tones.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
The Lion hasn’t come yet.
[ ii6 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
SECOND GENTLEMAN
Sudden illness of a child, I hear....
THIRD GENTLEMAN
Oh, yes! He arranges for someone to be ill
whenever he doesn’t want to come. He keeps half
a dozen children for this very purpose.
FOURTH GENTLEMAN
Let the man alone. He will wear himself out soon
enough, in these bad times. And then there’ll be
a chance for our Quadrille.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Take care. In this corner we are all for progress.
We are of the Crown Prince’s party to the very tips
of our shoes.
fifth gentleman (coming from the hall-room)
Have you heard ? His Majesty’s going to Carlsbad
this summer.
SEVERAL VOICES
He never went there before!
FIFTH GENTLEMAN
Carlsbad, you see, is in Austria. His physician,
Dr. Bismarck, won’t allow him to go to the Radical
baths of Baden and Ostend any more.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
Does anyone seriously believe he can hold out till
summer?
schleinitz (Joining the group )
Well, gentlemen I Is this the Congress of Vienna ?
i ”7 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
SECOND GENTLEMAN
No, else Metternich would be here! How goes it ?
Black ? Grey ? Or grey with white spots ?
SCHLEINITZ
When you let an adventurer drive the coach there’s
some new shock every week. He has always been
abusing Austria—and now suddenly he’s all over the
Hapsburgs. We are letting slip this one chance in a
century of putting Prussia, via Schleswig-Holstein,
at the head of the National movement. This gambler
is now playing my old policy, and playing it wrong.
FOURTH GENTLEMAN
Yesterday, however, Consols were up again.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
And Austrian crowns down.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
The same old ebb and flow.
SECOND GENTLEMAN
I don’t see much flow, my dear Count.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Have you noticed that the Crown Prince has
danced the whole night without ever sitting down ?
SCHLEINITZ
Since his return from England his Royal Highness
evidently wants to show that he is interested in
nothing but sport and such like.
SEVERAL VOICFS
Well put, my dear Baron!
C 118 3
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
FIRST GENTLEMAN
The Times puts it differently. Its account last
week of the private life of the Royal Family at Berlin
was the height of impudence!
SFCOND GENTLEMAN
Do you gather that here we are again one heart and
one soul ?
THIRD GENTLEMAN
Four hearts and not one beat 1
[j Laughter. The music breaks off very
suddenly.
gentlemen {all talking at once)
What’s the matter? The Lord Chamberlain is
beckoning. Everyone is crowding up! His Majesty ?
[They hurry into the ball-room, leaving the
stage empty. Voices without, then a
single voice. The music begins again
with a march. Various couples are seen
passing. Great commotion. Male and
female voices heard. Everyone is talking
more or less at once.
VOICES
Unter den Linden? Uninjured? Entirelyl
Knocked him down they sayl Nonsense 1 That’s
splendid! What does His Majesty say? How did
he look? He looked up to heaven, and then he
ordered a military march to be played. Who is the
assassin? Look, here they cornel The King is
escorting Frau von Bismarck—always gallant 1 Every¬
one is crowding round Bismarck. Come on, come on 1
[They hurry out again, while the Four Gentle¬
men take up their original positions .
[ "9 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Did you see how calm he was? Really the man
has a devil in him 1
SECOND GENTLEMAN
That’s better than a bullet.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
Well, he’s got the whole country down on him 1
FOURTH GENTLEMAN
It couldn’t by any chance have been a Liberal.
FIFTH GENTLEMAN
A madman, or an anarchist!
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Look how they’ve all got to congratulate him, no
matter how much they hate him! And we, my
friends, what do we think of it all ?
SECOND GENTLEMAN
I never think.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
But you smiled ?
SECOND GENTLEMAN
I always smile.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Now, own up, hand on heart! Confess you
wouldn’t have been altogether sorry if there had been
a little accident.
THIRD GENTLEMAN
How you talk, you old cynic 1
[ 120 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
FIRST GENTLEMAN
The truth and nothing but the truth!
SECOND GENTLEMAN
Here comes the Field Marshal.
[Enter old wrangel in cuirassier uniform.
WRANGEL
Well, what do you say to this, children? Old
Bismarck isn’t so much of a damned quill-driver as I
thought. Never knows exactly what he wants, but he
always wants something, although he is a civilian.
Weill welll Have you heard? He carried it off
quite well for an old Reservist!
GENTLEMEN
Has he told you how it all happened?
wrangel {beaming humorously, with vivacious gestures)
Suddenly there’s a bang close to his ear.
Unter den Linden. Instead of dodging off, he
springs at the rascal, grabs with his left hand the
scoundrel’s right with the pistol still smoking in it,
and squeezes his throat with his right. But he hasn’t
done with the beggar yet, for he takes the thing in
his other hand and fires two more shots. Of course,
he misses. No wonder, now we have the short term
service! But by this time Bismarck’s cordial embrace
of his swan-like neck has exhausted his breath and
the thing falls clattering on the pavement.
GENTLEMEN
Splendid 1 Wonderful!
I 121 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
WRANGEL
Well, what else do you think he said ? {Imitating
Bismarck’s clear , matter-of-fact enunciation .) “ I have
known it happen that a red deer’s ribs spring back
all the more elastically after they have been hit.”
{Laughing loudly and clapping his hearers on the shoulder .)
What do you say to that, children ? These diplomats
and their lingo! “ I have known it happen that a
red deer’s ribs . . . 1 ” Well, well, it’s good for such
folk to smell powder once in a way! Here comes Her
Most Gracious! I’ll be off! Up yonder in the
Green Salon they’re serving a Lafitte—the milk of the
aged, says old Goethe. Come along, boys, come
along! [Exeunt all.
[Enter the queen with bismarck in the
uniform of the Halberstadt regiment.
The Ladies who accompany her retire.
queen {at first very gentle')
Manifestly, the hand of God was over you to-day!
Your dear wife understood that. Her heart was too
full to speak.
bismarck {visibly stimulated by his excitement , and more
aggressive than ever )
She is a believer, your Majesty.
QUEEN
Who is not ? Tou should be one to-day if ever.
bismarck {simply)
As my life has been preserved I conclude that God
still needs me for my Country’s service.
[ 122 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
QUEEN
God needs no one, Herr von Bismarck. We need
Him.
BISMARCK
But when He delivers us from a danger He clearly
approves of what we are trying to do.
QUEEN
Perhaps He means rather, in His great goodness,
to prepare us for some new trial.
Bismarck {emphatically)
It seems to be your Majesty’s pleasure at any rate
that some such new trial should take place.
queen {stilly apparently gentle)
I would only beg you to take counsel with yourself
very seriously before you enter on a dangerous path.
BISMARCK
Had I not taken counsel with myself very seriously
before taking the steps I did, God would scarcely have
delivered me from the danger I was in to-day.
queen (vehementlyy but softly)
You are about to refuse to hand over Schleswig-
Holstein to its rightful Duke ? To make an enemy
of everyone in Germany who cares for Freedom?
To isolate Prussia? To dissolve the German Con¬
federation without putting anything solid in its place ?
BISMARCK
If your Majesty had yourself questioned me about
this, instead of Herr von Schleinitz ...
C I2 3 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
QUEEN
Why are you always so afraid of von Schleinitz ?
BISMARCK
I’m not afraid —even of persons of some capacity.
QUEEN
You evade my question with your sarcasm.
BISMARCK
If your Majesty yourself had asked me about the
ultimate objective of our foreign policy, it would
have been my duty to ask the permission of my Royal
Master before I could have given you an answer.
queen (rising to her feet, excitedly)
I am astounded at the boldness of your language,
seeing that really you haven’t any success at all to
boast of. The King is so much worried by your new
move in the Danish question that he hasn’t slept for
three nights.
bismarck (with suppressed anger )
I also have had three days of fever and a bad bilious
attack in consequence of my official anxieties. The
fight with this assassin to-day has, however, suddenly
cured me.
QUEEN
So you really think that fighting is the only cure for
the internal sickness of our country ?
BISMARCK
Nature furnishes examples which we may follow in
such crises.
[ ■*+ ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
QUEEN
I have long seen how dangerous is the course you
are steering. To-day, under the influence of such a
merciful intervention of Providence, I had hoped to
find you in a more receptive mood. But now, as the
wife of a much tried man, it is my duty to say to you
that your policy of force means gambling, not only
with the safety of your Country, but also with the
health and the very life of your King.
BISMARCK
Your Majesty’s frankness makes me hope that I
also may speak freely. I am not to blame, nor are my
official proposals, for the King’s nervous attacks.
It is your influence which distracts him, and I ought
long ago to have most respectfully begged you to
desist from these unconstitutional and irresponsible
attempts to work on my most Gracious Master.
queen (rises and glares at him. Beckons to a Lady-in-
waiting in the background)
Come! Our gracious Prime Minister is very
ungracious to-day.
[The queen, followed by her Lady, crosses the
room , leaving bismarck standing alone.
She meets the crown prince and
crown princess coming up the steps.
queen (half aloud)
See what you can do with this man. He becomes
madder every day! [Exit the queen.
bismarck (alone, pulling at his collar)
Confound these tight collars! I felt better an hour
ago when I was busy choking that fellow.
[ 125 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
victoria {going straight up to him)
Your Excellency is ill? After such a shock
wouldn’t it have been better to go and have a quiet
rest ?
bismarck {very aggressive both in look and tone)
If I had, no one would have believed that I had
escaped unhurt. My enemies would have been
triumphant. I scarcely think I was wrong about that!
crown prince {approaching him)
So far as I could see every one was delighted.
They were all congratulating you.
BISMARCK
They would have congratulated themselves even
more heartily if I had come to grief.
VICTORIA
The more enemies the more honour. Isn’t that a
German proverb ?
BISMARCK
I should very much like to know whether it is not
also an English one, your Royal Highness.
VICTORIA
Why?
BISMARCK
Because Lord Palmerston made a speech yesterday
in the House of Commons which will bring him little
honour, but many enemies.
victoria {hostile)
It cannot bring England anything but honour in
[ 126 ]
SCENE II KING AND PEOPLE
%
Europe if she won’t hear of war between Germany and
Denmark.
BISMARCK
Your Royal Highness speaks like an English¬
woman.
VICTORIA
Not at all. The Crown Princess of Germany
would find complications of this kind doubly painful.
BISMARCK
Your Highness’s heart is no longer free to beat for
countries beyond the German frontier.—Not even if
your sister were to become your enemy.
victoria (passionately , but without raising her voice )
Do you really mean, your Excellency, that it is
your business to dictate to me what my feelings as
daughter and sister should be ?
BISMARCK
I mean only to remind you that if you dread a
conflict of affections you should do all you can to
prevent a conflict of nations.
VICTORIA
You know that we are powerless.
BISMARCK
Your Royal Highness should try to mitigate the
feelings of Her Majesty the Queen of England.
VICTORIA
And what if instead of that I tried to mitigate your
desire for war ?
[ I2 7 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
BISMARCK
There is no question of a desire for war.
CROWN PRINCE
Our only wish is to serve the Fatherland in what
seems to us the best way.
BISMARCK
One must serve the Fatherland as circumstances
permit. What else do you think I am doing? Do
you think it’s one’s dearest wish to follow a course
which ends in an attack from a man with a revolver ?
victoria (coldly and hostile)
If it is not your dearest wish, why on earth do you
do it ?
bismarck {after a pause , significantly)
Perhaps in order to blaze a new trail through the
undergrowth of this forest.
VICTORIA
Why don’t you follow the beaten track?
BISMARCK
In the first place because it is blocked, and in the
second because it is a long way round.
CROWN PRINCE
You mean to substitute force for agreement?
BISMARCK
Say, rather, I mean to use force as a guarantee of
liberty.
I 128 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
victoria ( superciliously )
Liberty? We had no idea, Herr von Bismarck,
that you had become a Liberal.
BISMARCK
I attach no importance whatever to catchwords,
your Royal Highness!
[Movement in the ball-room; then the kino
and roon come up the steps. The
Group on the stage turns to meet them .
KING
I hope, my child, you are not over-straining our
Premier with your clever talk. He has already had
enough to-day.
VICTORIA
Oh, your Majesty, neither of us is in a position
for anything but quite theoretical conversations.
[The king offers his arm and leads her to the
Ladies by the steps.
KING
Perhaps you would like to adorn the dance with
your charm.
[Two formal curtsies. Exeunt victoria and
her Ladies. The king, the crown
prince, bismarck, and roon remain
on the stage. An Attendant draws the
curtains behind them.
king (sitting, while the others stand)
You want the ultimatum this evening? Are you
not exhausted?
[ I2 9 ]
K
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
BISMARCK
I am rejuvenated, your Majesty! The attempt on
my life is a new proof that there is no time to lose.
Besides, for to-morrow, and perhaps the next day, I
can count on something we couldn’t have hoped for,
namely, the sympathy of the Press, which, of course,
hates me, but which will have to take the decent line
about the murderer. This friendly attitude may do
much to help the war.
KING
I am still afraid of the Landtag in our rear.
BISMARCK
The Landtag is dead.
KING
Yes, but since you murdered it, its ghost has been
more horrible every day.
BISMARCK
Roon’s victories will lay the ghost—among other
things.
KING
Are you sure of Count Karolyi ?
BISMARCK
For a week past I have been talking to him on and
off about our real intentions, so that he can now
report to Vienna that he had already warned them.
Then, nolens , rather than vo/ens , he’ll fall gratefully
into our arms.
KING
I’ll receive him to-morrow.
[ 130 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
Your Majesty should see him to-night, so that
there may be a Court flavour about his report. At
the Hofburg they’re very fond of notes beginning
after some such fashion as this: ( imitating ) “ Just
before the Cotillon, which is performed here in an
old-fashioned and economical but not unpleasing
fashion, His Majesty was gracious enough ...” and
so on.
KING
You mean really that they make fun of us ?
ROON
The Hapsburgs consider themselves first and the
rest nowhere in all that concerns a Court 1
KING
I’m quite willing to concede them that proud pre¬
eminence. Prussia, however, is now under arms.
You are quite ready, Roon ?
ROON
Absolutely, in accordance with the plans submitted
to your Majesty.
KINO
I think—my son has something he wishes to say.
CROWN PRINCE
I should like to ask the Prime Minister what he
thinks will be the impression produced in the country
by this undertaking. With one voice all Germany is
saying: “ Schleswig and Holstein belong to the Ger¬
manic Confederation.” From this national enthusi¬
asm something of the highest value might be developed,
C 131 1
king and people
ACT III
something far better for Prussia than any increase in
territory or population. ... I mean the ideal of
German Unity! But if we make war against the
will of the Confederation and conquer the Duchies
to which we have no legal right, the ideal of Unity
will be thrown back for many years. This is the
view of thirty-nine out of our forty millions; it is
the view of the rising generation. As the youngest
present, I feel it my duty to give this warning on the
eve of action.
BISMARCK
If your Majesty will allow me-
KING
Yes; please reply to the Crown Prince.
BISMARCK
Three centuries ago the Hohenzollerns forcibly
took from us Bismarcks a piece of woodland away
back in Lower Pomerania. Even to-day, when I am
asked to shoot there, I feel rather sore about it, for
this royal wood properly belongs to us.
CROWN PRINCE
Well?
BISMARCK
Had I been Doctor Virchow, I should have
accepted the office I now hold only on condition that
the wood we were then done out of was restored to
me. If your Royal Highness regards the world
and politics from a purely ethical standpoint, and
proposes to test all European treaties by the standard
of their legal validity, the whole structure of the
Balance of Power will soon fall about our ears. As
[ I3 2 ]
SCENE II
KING AND PEOPLE
regards German Unity, however, which my action
appears to hinder, I humbly beg that you will have
enough confidence in me to believe that I also have
my plans.
king {to the crown prince)
And in any case you are an officer and look forward
to a fight!
crown prince {with animation )
I do, indeed, your Majesty.
KING
You will fight bravely, like your forefathers, my
son.
CROWN PRINCE
That I can promise your Majesty.
KING {to ROON)
Tell the Crown Prince what post has been assigned
to him.
ROON
Your Royal Highness will command an Army
Corps under Field-Marshal Wrangel.
crown prince {with animation)
Your confidence fills me with delight. I thank
your Majesty.
KING
Make good, then. And with God be the rest!
[They shake hands and return to the ball-room.
Music.
bismarck {looking after them, very pointedly)
Each supports the other by the sword-belt, or
they couldn’t go on.
C *33 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
ROON
You were uncommonly frank!
BISMARCK
And he?
roon {shrugging his shoulders)
He—is a Royal Highness.
BISMARCK
The Irresponsible Future 1 We are the Responsible
Present!
ROON
What a blessing that scoundrel missed you to-day!
Without you, we could never have unsheathed our
swords to-morrow. You knocked the pistol out of
his hand ?
BISMARCK
If I hadn’t, I should now be lying {gesture ) in a
decidedly horizontal posture.
ROON
That was the fate which someone else met an hour
or two ago. A remarkable affair—the news has just
become known in the ball-room.
BISMARCK
What?
ROON
Lassalle has been killed in a duel.
BISMARCK
Parbleu ! this has been a lucky day! That young
man might have made things uncomfortable for me
just at present. What was it about ?
i T 34 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
ROON
Women!
BISMARCK
And so, although learned in the law, he lets himself
be shotl That was very gentlemanly of himl But
it is always better to shoot the other man!
Scene III
Roon’s headquarters in Berlin. A bare room. Numer¬
ous general staff maps , some rolled up, some
hanging on the walls, others spread out on large
tables. It is an afternoon in April. Orderlies
come and go. Roon is standing at work before a
large map on the table. An Orderly Officer stands
beside him, with field telegrams on long strips of
paper in his hand. Roon is quite unperturbed
throughout the whole scene.
ROON
The Eleventh and four other batteries entirely
wiped out ? How many prisoners ?
ORDERLY
Three thousand, General.
ROON
That’s not many. What about the West ?
ORDERLY
Rearguard fighting with the Eighth Enemy Corps.
C r 35 J
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
ROON
Where did they stand last ?
ORDERLY
Four kilometres north of Tondern.
ROON
When?
ORDERLY
At ten twenty-seven.
ROON
What about the Dtippel entrenchments ?
No report.
ORDERLY
ROON
Nothing even about the outer works ?
Nothing.
ORDERLY
ROON
Is His Excellency still in the next room ?
ORDERLY
Yes, General. [Exit Orderly.
[A second and a third Officer come in later ,
with telegrams, which roon compares
with the map . Enter bismarck in
major's uniform , somewhat slovenly.
He is pale and looks as if he had had a
sleepless night. He walks restlessly up
and down.
C ‘36 )
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
Still no news from Dtippel?
ROON
Tenez ! On pourrait critiquer votre tenu !
BISMARCK
Say that in plain German. I am not afraid of the
jeers of your lieutenants. What a stuffy hole this is l
ROON
Well, order your nag and have a long gallop in the
Tiergarten.
BISMARCK
My legs are stiff. You said I might settle down
here till we get something decisive. Is the weather
better now out there ?
ROON
All the roads are under water. The whole of
North Schleswig is a morass.
BISMARCK
How many hours will that delay our advance ?
ROON
About five or six days.
BISMARCK
That can’t be! (Very angry.) Do you think I can
continue to hold off England’s damned intervention
for five more days ?
roon (annoyed)
Then please have the scene of operations dried with
bath towels and chemically cleaned!
[ '37 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
Bismarck {coming close to him)
Roon, I have your word that you won’t hide any¬
thing from me. If anything goes wrong, I shall go
straight to the front and never come back.
[Enter johanna von bismarck.
roon
I’m glad to see you, my dear lady. Please put
this turbulent person under close arrest.
JOHANNA
Forgive me 1 I’m worried about him.
BISMARCK
Roon wants to turn us both out.
JOHANNA
I wish he would!
BISMARCK
All right, Johanna! What about Rheinfelden!
What about Schonhausen! A shooting-box in the
green wood! Woods where one would not see a
human face. If you could only arrange that for me 1
No responsibility! Then I should only want a duck’s
tail to shake! [Both laugh.
JOHANNA
Just think what it means to be married to this
impossible man! At home in the country he can at
any rate chop wood for an hour when he gets into
one of his rages. Otto, what’s the matter now ?
bismarck (suddenly very serious , speaks softly and slowly ,
with appropriate gestures')
Last night I had a ghastly dream. I dreamed I
C 138' ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
was holding the map of Germany and drawing a long
thick line round all its thirty divisions to make one
whole of it. Then suddenly the paper in my hands
began to smoulder, curled up, and finally fell to
ashes in my very fingers. Where did the flame come
from ? [He sinks into a chair.
roon (again at his map )
What’s a dream 1
johanna ( simply )
Our ways are all in God’s hands.
bismarck ( gruffly )
All the same, it’s a good thing if anything should
happen to have a revolver handy.
johanna (shaking her head—to roon)
I am going over to join your wife.
[Exit JOHANNA.
bismarck (brooding)
My boys must not go in for diplomacy. It’s an
accursed profession in which a man has to see all the
gravest decisions taken out of his hands with no more
power over them than a lunatic sitting behind bars
and mumbling prayers. (Suddenly rising .) Why is
the attack on the entrenchments still delayed ?
ROON
How can I tell here ? They say old Wrangel has
got it into his head that it would be a fine thing to
attack on his eightieth birthday.
r *39 3
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
BISMARCK
When is that?
ROON
The day after to-morrow.
BISMARCK
Has he gone mad, the old fool ? Without Dttppel
I am powerless in London. You told me yourself
that Dtippel was the key.
orderly {entering)
Count Karolyi wishes to see the Prime Minister.
BISMARCK
May I ? As you’re putting up with my presence
anyway it will produce a better effect on our friend if
he sees his allies on a war footing.
[Orderly ushers in karolyi.
bismarck ( amiably )
Yes, your Excellency, I am playing at soldiers.
Have you found anything better to do ?
ROON
Everything is on a war footing here, Count, so
please take the only chair.
karolyi {gaily)
Well, really, this place bristles so with weapons,
one feels as if one had been made prisoner one’s self 1
BISMARCK
That’s what all we politicians really are when the
guns begin.
C *40 )
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
KAROLYI
The guns having begun, the difficulty is to come to
any kind of understanding with such a frightful noise
going on.
BISMARCK
We can manage without words, Count. ( Rather
ironically .) Doesn’t your Hapsburg heart beat higher
among all these Prussian uniforms ?
KAROLYI
Per-fectly delightful! As to the heart and its
beating and so forth, that’s the sort of thing I never
see except in the newspapers.
room {going on with his work )
Bravo!
KAROLYI
Perhaps, too, it’s a little depressed to-day, my
heart, because of what I have on it.
bismarck {coming straight to the point)
Out with it!
KAROLYI
Vienna is bombarding me with despatches about
the London Conference.
bismarck {more coolly)
A little patience, Count.
KAROLYI
You’ve been saying that for a week past. I’m
afraid they’re near breaking-point at Vienna.
[ Hi ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
bismarck {firmly)
They must hold their hand.
KAROLYI
The intervention of England-
bismarck ( brusquely )
Must hold it’s tongue till we’ve got the Dtippel
entrenchments in our pocket. Before then I’ll sit at
no conference.
karolyi (standing up)
I beg you-
BISMARCK
Not a minute sooner, Count.
karolyi ( seriously)
Then I am charged by Vienna, your Excellency,
to protest strongly. To-morrow we shall be com¬
pelled to agree to go into the Conference alone.
bismarck ( gravely)
Vienna alone ? Without Prussia ? You propose to
make war together and peace separately? Do you
know what we should be compelled to do in that case,
your Excellency?
karolyi ( excitedly)
Don’t put it into words!
bismarck (i resolutely )
What should I be afraid of? You were joking,
just now, about your being a prisoner. We have
forty thousand men in Schleswig; and you only
twenty thousand. The supreme command is in the
[ 142 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
hands of the Prussian Field-Marshal. If your Gov¬
ernment dared to telegraph its agreement to London,
without our consent, I should publish it in a general
order to the troops, and I doubt whether they could
be kept in hand, if their natural resentment impelled
them to turn against their Allies.
karolyi {pale, formally )
Am I to take your Excellency’s statement as
official ?
BISMARCK
If you do not communicate it to Vienna yourself I
shall repeat it to-morrow through our Ambassador
at the Ball-Platz.
KAROLYI
Then, alas! I must take my leave of you.
ORDERLY
Her Royal Highness-
[Victoria enters quickly .
victoria {with animation)
Now, General, what do you think I bring you?
[Telegram in her hand.
ROON
Victory ?
bismarck {rushingforward)
The Dtippel entrenchments ?
victoria {over his head, to karolyi)
Ah, here is our worthy Ally 1
bismarck {more urgently)
Will your Royal Highness not tell us-?
C 143 ]
KING AND PEOPLE
ACT III
victoria {superciliously)
What, your Excellency ? Are you managing the
■war, too?
bismarck {with suppressed spite)
No, I only endure it.
victoria {spitefully)
Millions of men and women have to do that!
That is why so many thousand hearts have a grudge
against you to-day. Mine among them.
BISMARCK
Although your Royal Spouse is gathering laurels ?
victoria
Only military ones. We think more of the laurels
of peace.
BISMARCK
The loftiest column I saw in London lifts Nelson,
one of your country’s war-heroes, to the skies.
VICTORIA
Since then Europe has been filled with new ideas.
BISMARCK
There are some big things which cannot be achieved
by words and thoughts alone, but only with the aid
of half a million bayonets.
VICTORIA
And what is the great thing that you defend at
Dtippel ?
C ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
BISMARCK
That your Royal Highness will recognize in a few
years’ time.
VICTORIA
A mere evasion! Or am I still too young to under¬
stand it now?
BISMARCK
On the contrary! At this very moment your Royal
Highness reminds me, by your keen insight and your
cold fire, of the great Elizabeth of England.
VICTORIA
That’s a double-edged compliment!
BISMARCK
It would hardly suit me to spin compliments like
a courtier.
victoria {rising)
Well, now that you have cut this dangerous knot
with the sword, I hope at any rate you will now
govern through the People whose sons have won for
you this victory ?
BISMARCK
I ? Does your Royal Highness think that / have
the feelings of a conqueror? I have been passing
through the most terrible hours of my life.
victoria ( beaming )
There now! Do you not see now how wrong your
methods were ? Your eye is wild, your face is pale.
You haven’t slept. By violence and against the will
of the People you have, perhaps , attained what
reason and negotiation would certainly have secured.
[H5] L
KING AND PEOPLE ACT III
These “ most terrible hours,” must have taught you
how it should not have been done.
BISMARCK
If your Highness really believes that in Prussia
we seek war for its own sake—then I am an English¬
man.
VICTORIA
A wretched policy it must be, indeed, if you have to
be always trembling about the result of a battle 1
karolyi ( going)
Your Royal Highness-
VICTORIA
You’re in a hurry ?
KAROLYI
Important affairs-
victoria ( sarcastically )
You diplomatists seem to be all nerves nowadays.
bismarck (furious and beside himself)
Has—Dtippel—fallen ?
roon (who has just received a telegram)
Read for yourself 1
victoria
Now your friend has given it away.
bismarck (^readingfeverishly)
“ All the Dtippel forts have been securely in our
hands since two o’clock.—Wrangel.” (Feels round
[ 146 ]
SCENE III
KING AND PEOPLE
him, seizes a glass, and smashes it on the tray.) There!
Now I feel better! Your glass may be charged to the
Foreign Office vote!
ORDERLY
His Majesty! [Enter the king,
king
I come to congratulate everybody.
ROON
The victory has opened our way to the North.
KING
The way to my people! All the way here there
was a cheering crowd round my carriage. In 1848
the same crowd hissed me. In these last few weeks
the same crowd passed me without saluting. Now the
very same mob shouts Hurrah! Read me this riddle ?
ROON
Your Majesty has been victorious.
Bismarck (significantly)
This time—your Majesty has been victorious!
[Cries of “ Victoria ! ” from below.
ROON
Will your Majesty not show yourself to the people ?
KING
Not without you two!
BISMARCK
The mob does not wish to see me! But now, your
[ 147 ]
KING AND PEOPLE ACT III
Majesty, is the moment for reconciliation with your
people!
KING
Victoria 1 Don't you hear your name 1 Come with
me!
[The king leads victoria to the balcony.
Tumultuous cries of “ Victoria ! ”
Bismarck (in front with roon)
Do you hear them, Roon ? Now they are acclaim¬
ing Frau Victoria—no less! Such are the ironies of
history!
[ H8 ]
UNION
1870
A PLAY IN FIVE ACTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Wilhelm I {King of Prussia).
Crown Prince Frederick.
Count von Bismarck (Chancellor of the North German
Confederation).
Moltke {Commander-in-Chief of the German Armies).
Roon (Minister of War).
Keudell.
Count Brav {Bavarian Minister).
Three Highnesses.
Napoleon III (Emperor of the French).
Empress Euc£nie.
Due de Gramont {Minister of Foreign Affairs).
Ollivier {Prime Minister).
Leboeuf {Minister of War).
WlMPFFEN '
Castelnau
Caussade / French Generals.
Trochu
Thiers
Gambetta ■ Democratic Deputies.
Favre
Arago
Picard ■ Radical Deputies.
Rochefort
Count Nigra {Italian Minister at Paris).
Deputies, Courtiers, Officers.
[ 151 3
ACT I. PARIS
A Room in the Tuileries.
ACT II. BERLIN
Bismarck’s Reception Room.
ACT III. SEDAN
Scene I. A Room at Donchery.
„ II. A Winter Garden at ChAteau Belle¬
vue.
ACT IV. PARIS
„ I. Staircase of the Chamber of Deputies.
„ II. A Room in the Tuileries.
ACT V. VERSAILLES
„ I. Bismarck’s Room.
„ II. Ante-room of the Galerie des Glaces.
L *5 2 ]
UNION
1870
ACT I
Paris, 1 2th July 1870. A room in the Tuileries.
Rococo blue and gold, mirrors., chandeliers, a high
window R. It is evening; many lights, great
ceremonial with servants, formal announcements,
etc., in marked contrast to Act II.
First and Second Gentlemen of the Court
stand at the window, which is open.
FIRST GENTLEMAN ( excitedly )
The crowd is growing. Lookl They’ll soon be
shouting I
second gentleman (an older man)
Yet they understand nothing about it.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
In spite of that they must be attended to 1
second gentleman (leaving the window)
I can’t help despising them. I am too old for your
politics. Despotism ? All right! But a Dictatorship
based on a popular vote—that’s too clever for me
altogether. M. Ollivierl What is he? Where did
he come from ?
FIRST GENTLEMAN
The real question is, where is he going?
[ l S3 ]
UNION
ACT I
SECOND GENTLEMAN
To the end! To the end of you and all the rest of
you!
FIRST GENTLEMAN
To War and Victory! Listen to the crowd
shouting! Look at the papers! (Reads.) “Prussia
has made the Spanish Succession a challenge.
Bismarck wishes to establish a Hohenzollern in Spain
as Proconsul! ”
SECOND GENTLEMAN
Here come the Marshal and the Duke!
[Enter marshal leboeuf and the duc de
gramont. Leboeuf is a bluff person¬
age in uniform; gramont elegant in
Ministerial uniform , nervous , rhetorical\
and haughty.
FIRST GENTLEMAN
Well, your Excellency, do you bring us war at
last?
LEBOEUF
Can’t you wait till I give you a place right at the
front?
FIRST GENTLEMAN (pompously)
I shall die with a prayer for France on my lipsl
leboeuf (in a low voice)
How is the Emperor feeling to-day?
first gentleman (shrugging his shoulders)
Much the same.
[ 154 ]
ACT I
UNION
SECOND GENTLEMAN
Well, Duke, are you pleased with your success?
The papers are full-
gramont (taking the proffered paper , hut without
reading it — sententiously)
I only did my duty. What a drivel We could
hardly get through. In the Rue de la Paix the
carriage was stopped when they recognized us, and
they all shouted: “ Mobilize! To Berlin! Down
with Prussia! ”
LEBOEUF
Wouldn’t the Empress have loved it; it would
have made her heart leap! Are we announced ?
FIRST GENTLEMAN
As soon as you are ready.
[Exeunt both Gentlemen, ceremoniously.
leboeuf (sinking into a chair )
To tell you the truth I am tired to death. I say,
Duke, it’s not going to be a promenade!
gramont (aside, has been looking for the report of his
speech in the paper and reads it aloud to himself with
pathetic vanity)
Here it is: “ We will not allow Prussia to set one
of her Princes on the throne of Charles V and com¬
promise the honour of France 1 In such a case we
would not shrink from doing our duty! ( Loud
applause which prevented the Duke from continuing .) ”
Ahl It was a great moment! Lace handkerchiefs
fluttered from the boxes-
[ 155 ]
UNION
ACT I
leboeuf ( teasingly )
Especially the handkerchief of a certain Duchess
of-
gramont (posing again)
Hush, my friend! Not mine was the triumph, but
the Nation’s! (. Breaks off and walks round the room ,
visibly preoccupied .) So the Gardes Mobiles are
ready ?
leboeuf ( sitting )
Three hundred thousand of them. Only fifty are
wanting for the Eastern Army.
gramont (waving it aside)
The Marshal of France will call them up with a
stamp of his foot. The Reserves ?
LEBOEUF
We are short of some field kitchens. Some of our
quartermasters happen to be in Algiers.
GRAMONT
Why bother about quartermasters? The nation
will be its own quartermaster 1 If not, what use would
field kitchens be ?
LEBOEUF
Then—of course you are quite sure of the other
countries ?
gramont {reflectively)
What a question for a soldier! Lord Granville
yesterday answered for England; Denmark will help
us to land a Corps on the Baltic. As to Italy, the
Empress has arranged matters with the military
C 156 ]
ACT I
UNION
attach^. And our dear old Austria! The whole
nobility are impatiently waiting for their revenge.
Do you remember the scene last spring? How the
Archduke Albrecht unfolded the plan we had pre¬
pared on the long table in the Yellow Sdon ?
LEBOEUF
A happy hour! The Empress, all in red, stooping
over the map. I stood behind her and looked into
her lovely bosom—
gramont (equally carried away)
It was the bosom of France! {Both stand quietly
smiling together for a moment , then gramont breaks
out.) My God!
LEBOEUF
What’s the matter ?
GRAMONT
I have been—dreaming at night lately! I sleep
badly. Scenes of bloodshed hover before my eyes 1
And I am suddenly gripped by deadly fear!-
LEBOEUF
Of Prussia?
gramont {shuddering)
Of Fate, Marshal. Don’t you understand ?
* «
leboeuf {soldierly)
I understand—I often get funk myself.
gramont
Of Fate?
[ *57 ]
UNION
ACT I
I.EBOEUF
No! No! Of the Prussian needle guns.
gramont (taking him aside )
I’ll tell you a secret, Marshal. In the last forty-
eight hours I have sometimes wished that heaven
would take this trial off our shoulders, and that this
Prince would renounce his candidature.
LEBOEUF
Too late! When you ended your speech in the
Chamber with that challenging peroration I went
cold all down my back.
gramont (collecting himself )
All the more must we hope that our triumph may
be bloodless.
LEBOEUF
You may be satisfied with diplomatic victories
over Bismarck. I should prefer to beat Herr von
Moltke 1
GRAMONT
It is natural that you should think only of your
laurels.
LEBOEUF
Parbleu ! And you ?
GRAMONT
As a pious Catholic and Christian I seek to spare
human lives.
leboeuf ( laughing )
Doesn’t that reflection come rather late? Now
you have lightened I have to thunder-
[ 158 ]
ACT 1
UNION
[Folding doors open behind. Servants. Enter
the empress. She is forty, still very
beautiful and youthful in appearance.
Later, with her husband, she is more
like his daughter than his wife. She is
in pale blue, en grande toilette de
soiree. In her the fire of Spain is
accentuated by a sharply manifested
impatience. She thinks quicker but more
one-sidedly than the men, and waves
arguments aside with her fan. All bow
low before her.
EMPRESS
Well, is everything going satisfactorily ?
GRAMONT
When your Majesty’s sun shines what could
remain clouded ?
empress ( keenly )
That means that something is clouded. What’s
amiss, Marshal?
LEBOEUF
Had I only the Prussian Army under me I should
ask for a short postponement for technical reasons.
As, however, I nave had the honour to prepare the
finest Army in the world-
EMPRESS
Technical 1 Technical!
servant ( announces)
His Excellency the President of the Council.
[Ollivier enters L. in Ministerial uniform
C 159 ]
UNION
ACT l
a bourgeois countenance; he is getting
slightly grey. Confident.
EMPRESS
You are absolutely beaming! Do you bring the
declaration of war ?
OLLIVIER
The opposite, your Majesty.
all three {much surprised)
Peace ?
OLLIVIER
The latest telegram: the Hohenzollerns renounce
the Spanish throne.
empress
Renounce ?
[She stands in the midst of a semicircle
formed by the Ministers.
GRAMONT
Prussia climbs down 1 We have won the greatest
diplomatic triumph of the century 1
LEBOEUF
And can improve our preparations against ’72.
empress (looking from one to another)
You all seem very happy about it, gentlemen!
all three {appealingly)
Your Majesty!
empress {taken aback, gloomily)
Is the telegram—from Berlin ?
[ 160 ]
[/T b Mans'll
Empriss Euglmf
(Fi« ii a portiait by Wintirhalt i at tf t Louvre)
ACT /
UNION
OLLIVIER
From Madrid, your Majesty.
EMPRESS
And from whom ?
ollivier {as if it was a matter of course)
From our Minister.
EMPRESS
And who did he get it from ?
OLLIVIER
From the Spanish Government, of course.
EMPRESS
So King Wilhelm has spoken only to the Spaniards.
OLLIVIER
The King? He has spoken to nobody. Prince
Anton of Hohenzollern has renounced on behalf of
his son “ in order to avoid European complications.”
empress (laughing excitedly)
Prince Anton? So the obscure Court of Sig-
maringen has been graciously pleased to renounce!
Not to the Emperor! Not a word from the King!
Papa Anton has renounced because he didn’t think
the throne of Spain was safe enough for his little son!
Don’t you see ? Bismarck has overreached us again
-—in order that to-morrow he may jeer at our dis¬
comfiture ! Oh, it is unheard of!
oramont {compliantly)
I bow before your Majesty’s penetration. I forgot
[ 161 ] M
UNION ACT I
to ask who had renounced and to whom the renuncia¬
tion was addressed.
LEBOEUF
Our prestige is damaged. We must strike.
EMPRESS (to OLLIVIER)
But your Excellency is quite satisfied ? Is this also
one of your liberal doctrines—to take a box on the
ear with a smile ?
OLLIVIER
Prussia seems to me to be acting quite in good faith.
The Prince does not belong to the Royal branch of
the family, nor does the Crown in question belong to
France. The Spanish people are entitled-
EMPRESS
Be silent about the people from whom I come!
Bismarck’s agents have been working underground
at Madrid. By spying and bribery they have pre¬
pared this scheme whereby these Hohenzollerns will
be able to crush France from two sides I France needs
guarantees for the future—and from King Wilhelm
himselfl
GRAMONT
The key word! Guarantees! A challenging note
to Prussia, gentlemen!
FM PRESS
You’re waking up, Duke! You raised the storm
and Paris is neither to hold nor to bind. Now is the
timel
aide-de-camp (announces)
His Majesty 1
[ 162 ]
ACT I
UNION
EMPRESS
Please wait for us.
[The Three Gentlemen retire L. and exeunt.
[ Through the centre back enter napoleon with
COUNT NIGRA to the EMPRESS. The
emperor is in civilian clothes; he is in
the early sixties, pale and ill; looks
kindly at younger people and with
penetrating cunning at his opponents.
The customary assurance of his bearing
is weakened by illness. Nigra, the
Italian Minister , an elegant person in
the prime of life. Throughout this scene
all three remain standing.
EMPEROR
Count Nigra wishes to take leave.
NIGRA
Your Majesty-
EMPRESS
And what says Metternich?
NIGRA
He holds fast to our—^fensive alliance.
EMPRESS
Well! Hasn’t Bismarck driven us into a terribly
tight corner?
nigra ( cautiously )
I hope this view of the matter will prevail with
Prince Metternich-
[ 163 ]
UNION
ACT I
EMPRESS
You must convince him, Count! Wouldn’t Italy
be glad to acquit herself of part of her obligation to
us?
emperor ( quietly )
Yes, indeed. I’ve given her more than one very
nice present—Venice, Lombardy-
NIGRA
That is not forgotten, Sire, but-
EMPRESS
But what ?
NIGRA
If she is to make war in union with Austria it’s
only right that Italy should have a wedding present
of some kind-
FMPRESS
Italy is always asking 1
emperor ( parrying )
What are we talking about? There’s no sort of
question of war yet. King Wilhelm—he was staying
here a year or two ago—is old and satiated—far too
weak to be looking for trouble.
empress
For that very reason he will be led into follies by
that man.
EMPEROR
We want an understanding. Greet the King, my
noble friend, from me, and tell him I hope in Goa
that they will give way and that there will be no war.
[Exit NIORA.
C 164 ]
[W t. Mm «//
Napoleon III
(From a pot trait by Flandren in the Muste de Ver«nilles)
ACT I
UNION
empress (walking up and down excitedly)
I don’t like him! He’s a fox, just like his noble
sovereign!
emperor (sitting deep in thought)
Do you trust Austria ?
EMPRESS
Their whole nobility is burning to make good for
Sadowa.
EMPEROR
You have that from Gramont, and Gramont is
an ass. In Franz Joseph’s letter he only says he will
support us to the limit of possibility. If there only
were a renunciation, even yet.
empress (with a change of tone)
From whom ? The Prince or the King ?
EMPEROR
Why do you ask? (Getting up eagerly .) Has he
renounced ?
empress
Ollivier has just announced that he has,
emperor ( relieved)
That means peace 1
EMPRESS
Peace? I wish you would come to the curtain
here? Do you hear the roar of the Boulevard?
That is Paris demanding war from you I
EMPEROR
How does the renunciation run ?
[ 165 ]
UNION
ACT I
EMPRESS
Anton renounces “ in order to avoid complica¬
tions.”
EMPEROR
Admirable! The reason he gives justifies us before
the Chamber.
empress ( sharply )
One of Bismarck’s traps. He wants to elude us.
Gramont called it a box on the ear—Leboeuf is
beside himself—.—
EMPEROR
And Ollivier?
empress ( contemptuously )
That bourgeois! You might as well ask Thiers.
emperor
It is my intention to do so. He’s coming again
to-day.
empress
Thiers! Your enemy, who dared only yesterday
to speak against war in the Chamber? Won’t you
also invite the Communists to take part in your
councils ?
EMPEROR
He is the historian of our House.
EMPRESS
Tell him not to come! If anyone were to see him
arrive-
EMPEROR
If the Ministers are here we’ll soon damp down
the flame over Paris.
[ •«« 1
ACT I
UNION
EMPRESS
It will consume us I Has anyone ever seen Paris¬
ians grateful ? They cheer you so long as you follow
their humours, and so long as they think they are the
only ones to he deferred to!
emperor (in a low voice)
Very true.
empress (in fiery tones)
And do you think it gives me pleasure to see my
noble Spanish home tremble before the threats of
Prussian Junkers ?
emperor (quietly)
Your home, I think, is called France, which once
upon a time I laid at your feet.
empress ( proudly )
And I have, I think, been an ornament to your
Throne!
emperor (looks at her from where he sits at some
distance)
There it is again, that Castilian pride of yours!
Since you scented war you look as young as you did
twenty years ago 1
empress (goes up to him , smiling)
Only eighteen, my dearl And wasn’t that just
why I pleased you ? Didn’t I seem p r oud enough
then to adorn your House, instead of some boring
Princess ?
emperor (giving way)
Wherein have I fallen short, Eugenie? Have I
C 167 ]
UNION
ACT I
not made you the first woman in Europe ? I think
these eighteen years have been brilliant enough.
empress {passionately )
What is all their brilliancy to me when a dis¬
contented army may throw our son on the streets.
emperor {after a pause)
You have never seen a battlefield, Eugenie.
EMPRESS
And you have never yet allowed that reflection to
keep you from a victory 1
EMPEROR
In those days I was strong and well. Now I am
old and ill. Perhaps that has made me wiser.
EMPRESS
Wiser 1 Wiser 1
EMPEROR
In my days of health I won the victories which
go under my name by fighting, really fighting in
person. I can’t do that now. You know how ill I
am, Eugdnie!
empress {taken abac'll)
Then—you must take the command nominally.
emperor {breaking out)
I can’t. If I must suffer so horribly that my inside
seems to be on fire I will at any rate die before this war.
For four years this has vitiated all my power and all
my happiness; it has laid a burden on me that I have
scarcely been able to bear. You don’t know what
[ ]
UNION
ACT I
it is! When you were playing in your father’s garden
I was already pining in prison—and when you were
putting on your first dancing shoes I was in exile
staring at the French coast—because I knew it could
belong only to the heir of the great Napoleon. I
can’t do it. It would be too much for me! My body
requires nursing. My head—is strong enough to
keep France happy from this room 1
empress (shocked and disquieted)
What you are saying is terrible! France will not
tolerate a sick Master.
emperor (more softly)
At least let this year go by. I have long feared it.
My predecessor also reigned eighteen years. It is
an unlucky number 1
empress (haughty again )
Ohl are you already beginning to think of ’ 48 ?
Are you going to imitate the folly of the Citizen King
and go on ceding one right after another to the people
of Paris until they drive you out of the country?
Shall we have to fly some night like Louis Philippe
and his stupid little blue-blooded wife? I can see
us looking for some mouse hole in this place through
which we can disappear—in order to find safety by
night in England! Do you mean to go under like the
Orleans?
emperor (stands up and rings the bell)
I mean to save you from that fate. Messieurs les
Ministresl [Exit Servant L.
[Re-enter oluvier, oramont, and leboeuf
L. They take their places round a table
C 169 ]
UNION
ACT I
so arranged that the emperor sits a
little apart at the head, while eug£nie
takes a chair somewhatfurther off. She
follows and influences the speakers with
her eyes—atfirst silently.
emperor (in low business-like tones')
The Hohenzollern having resigned, all ground for
war has disappeared. But I don’t in the least wish
to anticipate you. I beg the Minister of Foreign
Affairs to tell us what he thinks.
gramont (sitting)
If you will allow me to differ, Sire, I think the form
in which it has pleased them to make the renunciation
is far from satisfactory. We must have guarantees
for the future, and we must have them from King
Wilhelm himself.
EMPEROR
M. le Marshal ?
LEBOEUF
The army is ready, Sire; it is more than ready 1
We could make war for a whole year without having
to renew a single gaiter-button. If we get a start of a
week we may take them by surprise and beat them.
We only want a few bottles of ink. The calling-up
notices are all ready, only the names and numbers are
put in in pencil.
EMPEROR
Are you of the same opinion ?
ollivier (uncertain)
I’m—looking for a way out.
C I 7° ]
ACT I
UNION
EMPEROR
What do you think of the prospects ?
GRAMONT
Italy will support us with 100,000 men; Austria
with twice as many. With our three armies we will
cut off South Germany from the North and meet our
allies in Bavaria-
LEBOEUF
—at the beginning of September.
EMPEROR
Much might happen before that. Herr von
Moltke usually acts quickly.
LEBOEUF
Meanwhile our army will have marched into South
Germany and compelled it to join us.
OLLIVIER
In any case the Prussians will be at the frontier
over-night.
EMPRESS
M. Ollivier seems to be very much afraid of
Prussia 1
OLLIVIER
I admire their army, your Majesty.
EMPRESS
That’s a matter of taste. I don’t.
GRAMONT
In any case French diplomacy is the best in Europe
C 171 ]
UNION ACT I
and usually chooses its own date in a war. The flame
of enthusiasm is blazing up to heaven 1
OLLIVIER
It’s you that have got Paris into this delirium.
gramont ( sharply)
I am accustomed to calculate the flight of my arrow
before I shoot, your Excellency! From the point of
view of European opinion it is most important to
have the appearance of being the attacked and not
the aggressors.
OLLIVIER
The appearance!
gramont (starts to his feet — rhetorically)
And are we not? In the last few years have not
these Prussians overthrown Austria, and conquered
Nassau, Hesse, Schleswig, and Holstein—all of them
old friends of France ? Have they not already estab¬
lished the Northern Confederation and bound the
South by treaties? Hasn’t Count Bismarck been
bragging for four years back that he will soon found
a united Germany? We must fetter this man by a
word from his King! [«Sz/j down: a pause.
EMPEROR
Do any of you gentlemen know where Count
Bismarck is just now?
OLLIVIER
At his estate in Pomerania.
empress ( jestingly )
No doubt he’s hunting bears there!
C *7* ]
In these parts,
UNION
ACT I
I believe, there still really are bears as there were a
thousand years ago. That would just suit his clumsy
German paws 1
EMPEROR
A few years ago at St. Cloud you didn’t find him
so uncouth.
empress {gets up suddenly , the Ministers with her)
And if I tolerated him then, I won’t now. We use
these people to establish the military reputation of
France. The best way now is to challenge the King.
emperor {who has notrisen )
I have thought of a better. Let us summon a
Congress to discuss this question. That will flatter
and soothe Paris.
OLLIVIER
That is the solution, Sire 1
GRAMONT
I—can’t make up my mind, Sire!
LEBOEUF
It wouldn’t be possible to damp down the excite¬
ment among the officers. If this time we were again
to refuse them war, they might be swept into opposi¬
tion to the Dynasty.
empress (goes to the table and stands opposite to the
emperor)
And how could it be otherwise? For four years
Herr von Moltke has been making the new provinces
into a glacis against our frontiers I Is France really
to see her superiority threatened by these thirty
C *73 3
UNION
ACT I
millions? That boorish nation thinks only of pro¬
ducing children, and unless we stop them uniting
they’ll be sixty millions in the next generation.
EMPEROR
What says the Prime Minister to these arguments?
OLUVIER
If I were sure the life of the nation was at stake,
I should say that even an unjust war must be risked.
EMPRESS
No war is unjust when it is made with the consent
of Parliament. Isn’t that part of your Liberal philo¬
sophy ?
gramont ( sententiously )
May all France hear your gracious voice.
EMPRESS
I will send my only son with you into the field.
LEBOEUF
By God! Give him to the Army of Alsace——
empress (interrupting)
What a name 1 There should be only one army—
the Army of the Rhine 1 Only one leader—the
Emperor! He will drive these Prussians before him
with bands playing—as once upon a time at Jena l
And he will dictate peace at Tilsit, like his great
Ancestor!
LEBOEUF
Your Majesty, may we placard those words
to-morrow morning at every street corner ?
C 174 ]
ACT I
UNION
empress ( hesitating )
Only the Emperor has the power to order that.
EMPEROR
To return to the question of a Congress-
gram o nt ( vehemently )
If your Majesty says any more about Congresses
I must throw down my portfolio at your Majesty’s
feet.
empress {suddenly approaching the sick man's chair, as if
to protect him)
Moderate your language, Duke 1
[A long pause. The shouting of the crowd is
heard below. The empress, with
shining eyes , makes a sign to the
Marshal. Leboeuf^ow to the window.
The shouting grows louder. He listens ,
while the group opposite waits.
LEBOEUF
A lady is standing on the roof of a carriage. So
far as I can make out it is Papillon of the Opera.
They are calling—excuse me, Sire—they are begging
permission to sing the Marseillaise, which has been
so long forbidden.
empress ( resolutely )
Come, gentlemen!
[Allexeunt centre back. The emperor alone.
emperor (staring in front of him)
The Marseillaise-?
C *75 ]
UNION
ACT I
servant {announces)
M. le Ddputd Thiers.
[Emperor nods and rises. Enter thiers.
About seventy. Very robust. Small\
easy , and unembarrassed,\ but adroit and
rather ironical.
emperor {more briskly)
It is friendly of you, M. Thiers, to come to the
Tuileries once in a way. More than anyone you
live there in the spirit.
THIERS
My writing days are over, Sire. When one lives
in Paris one has no peace to write history.
emperor {smiling)
So we had to thank that—estrangement—which
you forced upon me in days gone by for your gift of
the History of the Great Napoleon ?
THIERS
All the more honour for us that you gradually so
far approximated to our ideas as to call us back.
emperor {quietly)
I have had to educate my people gradually in the
ways of freedom.
THIERS
It has seemed to us democrats that it has been
the people who have gradually had to educate their
Emperor in the ways of freedom.
EMPEROR
People and ruler have always got to adjust them¬
selves to each other—-just as in marriage.
[ * 7 6 3
Thiers
\Rmh%ir t
ACT I
UNION
THIERS
A marriage of old age—after all these quarrels ?
EMPEROR
Isn’t Parliament for war ?
THIERS
Are you, Sire ?
EMPEROR
Speak as if I wasn’t.
THIERS
It would be too late. To maintain the Dynasty
now you really must have a victory. Since Sadowa
we have been a second-class power.
emperor {rising indignantly)
What are you saying, Monsieur ? I made France
great again—I alone 1 You and your people, with
your eternal negatives, have brought about this
terrible situation. I shouldn’t wonder if you wanted
a defeat 1
THIERS
Your Majesty is pleased to mistake me for a
German.
emperor {impulsively goes to him )
Forgive me! Let us sit down. Speak freely.
What do you think of the position ? Do you trust
Metternich ?
THIERS
I don’t trust any Austrian. They are all half
Germans.
[ 177 3
N
UNION
ACT I
EMPEROR
But Bavaria 1 If we once get there!
THIERS
King Ludwig will sooner break his soldiers’ heads
than lead them against the almighty Wilhelm whose
boots he has to lick.
EMPEROR
The Swabian Republicans and the Centre Party
at Munich are applauding us in their Press, since we
have again come to grips with their enemy the
Prussian Bismarck.
thiers (unshakable)
I know Germany better, Sire. As a young man
I fought there under your august Uncle. I don’t
like the Germans. I have a foreboding that they
will one day inherit our glory. But believe me—
there is something to reckon with there.
EMPEROR
What?
THIERS
It may boil over in a moment. And when nations
are on the eve of being united they are at boiling-
point.
emperor (after a pause)
You speak as a historian .— •
THIERS
If you wish to hear the politician, he must request
permission to speak very freely indeed.
[ 178 ]
ACT I
UNION
EMPEROR
I didn’t ask you to come here to exchange civilities.
THIERS
Then you have made up your mind, Sire ?
EMPEROR
I have not said so.
THIERS
If I spoke against war yesterday in the Chamber,
it was not for the same reasons as Favre and Gam-
betta, who love freedom more than they hate the
Prussians. I am too old to be dogmatic about
freedom. But anything more inopportune, or more
frivolously entered into, than this war, I have not seen
or heard tell of in the whole course of my seventy
years. All alliances depend on the feeling of Europe;
it is a question of victory or disaster. And to-morrow
all Europe will surely turn away from France if we
take the last and maddest step of provoking Prussia 1
emperor {dissenting)
What—war guilt-
THIERS
It is most important to make it appear that the
other is the guilty party. But the Duke has managed
things as clumsily as a German, while the Prussians
now have a man who is as adroit as a Frenchman!—
But I hear voices outside and the crowd wishes to see
you- [The shouting increases outside.
EMPEROR
I don’t want to be seen by them. I want to hear
what you have to say. Tell me everything.
C *79 ]
UNION
ACT I
thiers (coldly enumerating)
I am on the Committee, so I know the papers.
There is no money in the military chests. The
fortress of Metz has neither sugar nor rice nor bacon.
The General Staff has maps of the Rhine provinces
but none of our own frontier country. We have
neither stretcher bearers nor mechanics; neither
field kitchens nor baggage train for the third and
fourth divisions. We haven’t enough ammunition.
We have a plan of campaign—on the chessboard.
Over there, on the contrary, they have worked out
everything year after year in manoeuvres lasting for
weeks at a time. At best we could only have count¬
ered that by a super-diplomacy which would have
brought us the alliance of half Europe 1
emperor {after a pause — staggered)
Terrible things—why has Leboeuf kept them from
me?
THIERS
Because he fears for his place. Because, if he
didn’t, he wouldn’t feel safe at Court. Because, Sire,
even those nearest to you-
[The folding doors open. The empress
appears with the prince imperial, a hoy
of thirteen. She ignores thiers, who
bows to her> retires , and remains in the
background till the end of the scene.
EMPRESS
The crowd wish to see you, Sire l
emperor (leaning back)
But I don’t wish to see the crowd.
[ 180 ]
ACT I
UNION
EMPRESS
Here is the order to Benedetti, which I have just
drafted with the Duke. To-morrow at Ems he is to
demand guarantees from King Wilhelm for all future
time 1 [ Holds out the paper to him.
EMPEROR
It is so dark here-
EMPRESS {calls)
Light! More light in the Salon, so that the crowd
may recognize us.
[She steps out on to the balcony with the boy.
Loud cheering. Then the Marseillaise
strikes up, though it is not clear what
words the crowd are singing. The room
becomes very bright. The empress and
the prince imperial wave to those
below .
emperor (sitting apart , his hand over his dazzled eyes)
What is that? It is—yes, it is the Marseillaise!
Eugdnie, Eugdnie! This is Revolution-
[ '8‘ ]
ACT II
Berlin, the following afternoon. Bismarck’s reception
room. Wood panelled and comfortable in a solid,
upper middle-class style. Keudell, acting coun¬
cillor, about forty — a fine head and the eye of
an artist. Standing before him thiele, an elderly
secretary. He is a spectacled bureaucrat, an office
factotum, and a typical Berliner. They are
surrounded by official papers and telegrams.
KEUDELL
And that’s all ?
SECRETARY
Well, Sir, I think it’s quite enough to be going
on with!
KEUDELL
There will be a row! But from Ems? Is there
nothing yet from Ems to-day ?
SECRETARY
Nothing whatever! The calm before the storm.
KEUDELL
Send every ten minutes to the Telegraph Office.
The Chief will be furious if he doesn’t get to know
instantly what has been happening at Ems to-day.
SECRETARY
What have these Spaniards to do with us? I
should have been taking my hot baths long ago, but
my leave is all going to pieces just because of Madrid 1
And if the Chief doesn’t get his six weeks of the
[ 182 ]
ACT II UNION
waters at Carlsbad he will be quite unendurable
again.
KEUDELL
Thiele, that’s just another legend. When he is at
Varzin his servant brings him his Carlsbad Sprudel
salts in bed, at eight. The Chief, who never gets to
sleep before two, storms violently at him. However,
having swallowed an enormous glassful, he goes to
sleep again till ten, when he devours eight hard-
boiled eggs. And then he wonders why the Carlsbad
salts don’t work!
SECRETARY
Well, he’s very different in the office! What a
circular!—everything in it as fine as the works of a
watch. You have to take a magnifying glass before
you can understand it all.
keudell ( nodding )
Don’t I know it!
secretary
No, Sir, you don’t quite. You make twelve copies
of a note like that and then you will feel in your
finger-tips how subtle it is.
KEUDELL
Anything else ?
SECRETARY
General von Moltke arrived this morning. I hope
there won’t be a deluge of conferences. But in any
case I hope the Chief won’t—stay!
KEUDELL
He’ll be going on to Ems at three.
[ i»3 ]
UNION
ACT II
SECRETARY
Wheels in the Court. (At the window .) The
carriage has turned in. It’s him! ( Exit keudell
hurriedly .) Thiele, make yourself scarce! That fellow
digests men like hard-boiled eggs. [Exit R.
[Voices outside , orders , and greetings. Enter
johanna von bismarck. She is about
forty, small , dark-eyed , neat / thinks of
nothing but her husband. Behind her
bismarck, fifty-five, in a light summer
suit , healthy , in high spirits. Then
keudell and a Servant. Hats and
sticks are put down and taken away by
the Servant.
BISMARCK
Thank you, Keudell! It was frightfully stuffy in
the train. There’s a cowardly thunderstorm about
somewhere, which won’t venture out of the clouds.
Iced Seltzer with a dash of cognac would be nice.
But it must be at freezing-point. Rather like our
Paris policy.
JOHANNA
Wait five minutes, Otto. You’ve been perspiring.
BISMARCK
My dear! We must all die. Well, let’s die a week
sooner and enjoy what we like ( laughing ) or do you
prescribe tisane de tilleul ?
JOHANNA
Always headstrong! You’ll never be different.
If the gentlemen in your office behaved like that—
[ i8 4 ]
ACT II UNION
well, what would he say to you about it, Herr von
Keudell ?
BISMARCK (to KEUDELL)
Well, are you pleased? You’re a Reservist your¬
self, aren’t you?—on guard 1
\He makes several lunges in carte and tierce
with his stick.
keudell ( embarrassed)
Well—I hope so, your Excellency. Some new
telegrams have come in-
bismarck (all attention)
Telegrams! Why weren’t they handed to me in
the carriage? ( Hastening to the writing-tahle.) The
Prince—between yesterday and to-day—has not—
renounced ?
KEUDELL
It was sent in cipher to Varzin last night, but
probably arrived after you had gone.
bismarck (runs over two telegrams , halj aloud , jerkily ,
with suppressed rage )
Prince Anton renounces the Spanish throne for his
son—In order to avoid European complications—In
further conversation with Benedetti His Majesty
declared he would— welcome a renunciation 1 (Throws
the telegram on the table — his anger breaks loose.) What
on earth is the King thinking of? Behind my back
he goes to his cousin and makes him resign 1 Deals
with this Paris agent as if they were on an equal
footing! When I advised him not to say a single
word until Gramont withdraws his insolent words 1
(Bangs the table.) Upon my word, what does he keep
Ministers for?
C 185 3
UNION
ACT II
johanna (goes iup to him)
Ottochen, calm yourself 1
BISMARCK
Calm myself—when I’ve just had a thing like this 1
Good God, Johanna, just see what’s happening 1
This is open retreat before Paris! A cowardly peace,
a consumptive renunciation! Now I understand
why Keudell looks so green. Ask him yourself; he’s
meek enough for you!
KEUDELL
I must say it flattened me out.
bismarck (turning round his huge hulk)
Do you know what they’re doing there, Keudell ?
(Bursts open the door and calls.) Engel 1 Don’t unload
anything 1 Leave the heavy luggage on the carriage;
we are going back to Varzin.
servant (at the door , startled)
Very good, Count!
johanna ( relieved)
That's sense! I quite agree 1 [Goes to him.
bismarck (sitting on a chair near the door. Stares before
him , takes her hand and holds it. There is a long pause,
then he says in a low voice)
Yes. There’s no one like you! You always quite
agree. This time I can fulfil your heart’s" desire.
This time the King won’t get me to stay. (With a
growl.) I am sick of having to answer before Europe
for these constant fiascos.
[ 186 ]
ACT II
UNION
johanna ( delighted)
You will resign? That’s right. Let the whole
thing slide. The weariness of all these years—
attempts at murder from below and vexatious meddling
from above. We had a very different life at home by
our fireside in our first years, and you’ve always
looked back to it with longing.
bismarck (outwardly composed)
That I have: and now comes peace and quietness;
shooting, looking after the property; perhaps some
brickmaking. And we’ll start out the youngsters in
something more sensible than this wretched trade of
mine. So it shall be. (Gets up.) Keudell! Have a
telegram sent to Ems to say that I am tired with the
long journey and will send Eulenburg instead.
KEUDELL
I will have it ciphered at once.
BISMARCK ( growls )
No en clair. I want the operator to tell it to the
whole place! (Exit keudell. Bismarck stretching
himself'.) Thank heaven the bomb has burst at last!
This time it’s serious. To-morrow to Varzin. From
that vantage-point my resignation. Thereupon I
shall be implored to remain. To that an irrevocable
Nol Then a charming autograph letter and some¬
thing round my neck for the children to play with.
(Apause , then wrathfully.) I wish I hadn’t so many
enemies who’ll be delighted. ( Walks up and down.)
After that the wilds of Pomerania. The Inspector
has long been wanting new outbuildings. At break¬
fast the newspapers in comfort. Lots of newspapers,
Johanna!
C 187 ]
UNION
ACT II
JOHANNA
Lots ? You used never to have few enough when
you were on leave.
bismarck (with malicious enjoyment')
Leave , my dear! That’s a thing of the past.
From henceforth every morning I shall read all the
filth of all parties! While I’m having my coffee it
will console me to know how Herr Manteuffel or
Herr Schleinitz is getting on, or whoever the last
person is with whom His Majesty is making muddles.
(With growing bitterness.) They’ll crawl in the dust
before France and apologize for being alive! They’ll
allow the North German Confederation to rot, and
gracefully push the South into Napoleon’s arms!
(With rising anger.) Every morning we shall read
how methodically Prussia is going to the dogs! How
bit by bit everything that one has patched together
during the last eight years is coming unstuck.
JOHANNA
Oh, if you’re going to think of nothing else all
day-!
BISMARCK
Only in the morning, at breakfast, my love!
When I know all that’s happening—on with my
boots and away with the forester! And if I have no
more deputies who stand in my light to shoot at I can
make a mental picture of them when I’m disembowel¬
ling a boar with my old hunting knife—and that’ll
help to pass a pleasant hour. (Grumpily.) May the
devil fly away with a post in which one can never do
what one wants! In which one must always be
begging one’s superior to be graciously pleased to
[ 188 ].
ACT II
UNION
accept the power which one has slaved to win for
him ! 1 [<SV»&f into a chair.
SERVANT
His Excellency Herr von Moltke. His Excellency
Herr von Roon-
[There come down centre moltke, seventy ,
for the most part very silent , but very
pointed when he does speak , and
astonishingly observant. Roon, sixty,
more cordial to bismarck. Both are in
general's uniform , without decorations.
They salute first the countess, then
BISMARCK.
JOHANNA (half aloud)
Well, you’ve found him in a fine humour 1
ROON
If it could only start, Countess 1
BISMARCK
Start! Her locomotive is starting back to the
country. I regret I disturbed you, gentlemen. It
was a false alarm of fire.
JOHANNA
You’ll all be thirsty. [Exit R.
BISMARCK
You’ve known since last night of the fiasco; the
news reached me on my arrival here just now. My
cheek is still burning with the blowl
[Roon sits down; moltke stands looking
out of the window. Bis marck walks up
and down.
C 189 ]
UNION
ACT II
ROON
Definitely—peace ?
BISMARCK
I would have nothing to say against peace. I’ve
kept the peace long enough—three years ago even
against you 1 But this peace, gentlemen —this peace
is enough to make you vomit 1
roon ( sulkily )
If it were to be left at that it would be a bitter pill.
BISMARCK
Bitter indeed, Roonl Acids like this will corrode
the nation’s honour so thoroughly that one day you’ll
be able to look at the moon or the rings of Saturn
through the holes!
ROON
I hate your astronomy!
BISMARCK
I can see from here what they are reading on the
boulevards. La Prusse cane ! We can threaten and
insult as much as we likel Prussia climbs downl
Large headlines—price 5 centimes. (Lower.) But,
at any rate, henceforth the honour of my name will
not be abused.
roon (alert)
What does that mean ?
bismarck (quietly)
That I’m going.
C z 9° l
[bchetl’s Bilitr iunst
Roon
ACT II
UNION
moltke (walks straight up to him )
No!
bismarck (looks threateningly at him )
Yes, General! Not no 1
roon ( intervening )
I—suppose you’re going to Ems to-day?
BISMARCK
In order to give covering sanction to the King’s
weakness ?
ROON
To make him change his mind.
BISMARCK
So that the cry may be once more “ Bismarck the
war fanatic ” ? (Pause.) Or so that for the third
time the King may persuade me to remain in office ?
moltke (again stepping in front of him)
Deserting the colours ?
bismarck (very sharply)
Would you sacrifice your honour to a King who
won’t hit back?
MOLTKE
My life as a soldier.
BISMARCK
Your life? That’s easy! Would you sign the
capitulation of your fortress merely because the King
ordered you tor
C 191 ]
UNION
ACT II
moltke (turning away)
He’s not doing that.
BISMARCK
Unfortunately he is so entirely an officer. In that
capacity he always stands fast. In politics, on the
other hand-
secretary (enters with a telegram )
From Bad Ems, your Excellency.
bismarck (reads)
His Majesty left early for Berlin. (Growling.)
That means he’ll be here directly. What more?
(Looks at him for the first time.) Thiele, you’re not
looking at all well. Off you go on leave!
SECRETARY
Your Excellency is most kind. But there’s
another long cipher telegram in from Ems —220
groups.
[Bismarck and the two Generals exchange
glances .
BISMARCK
Who is deciphering ?
SECRETARY
Nowak and I.
BISMARCK
Here’s a dashing Ministry 1 You’ve been working
together for about a century and a half, haven’t you?
Ask Nowak to be so good as to get a move on for the
first time since ’66. It is world history, tell him,
and perhaps that’ll make him get on quicker.
[ 192.]
ACT II
UNION
[Exit Secretary. Enter simultaneously Ser¬
vant with wine , lemonade , fruit , etc.
Exit Servant.
ROON
What does this hurried return mean ?
Bismarck ( sardonically )
Thanksgiving service for the preservation of peace.
ROON
I don’t understand it. The King takes no decision
without asking you.
bismarck ( vehemently )
But he parleys! And then expects me to defend
him afterwards! That idiot, Gramont, who is run¬
ning amuck like a mad Malay through the streets
of Paris, stabbing everyone he meets, has the audacity
to disturb my King while he is having his cure, through
the equally idiotic Benedetti, with whom I’m fed to
the teeth! And the King, instead of telling me about
it, appears naked and unashamed, without Ministerial
bathing drawers, gives information, makes apologies
—though in all this he should be accompanied by the
wretched man who is responsible, who had thought it
all out and thought it all out quite differently l
ROON
And so there’s a pretty kettle of fish again!
bismarck (composing himself with an effort )
For the last eight years I have been steering before
the wind, but we shall never make harbour with
France’s blessing. They would be fools if they
C 193 ] o
UNION
ACT II
allowed us to. If there were a dozen different tribes
in their country—wouldn’t I move heaven and earth
to prevent them from achieving unity. Very welll
It’s not my game to provoke them. But at last we
get the Gascon you know of at the Quai d’Orsay.
The Emperor is ill, the Lady wants to secure her
boy’s succession; so now they are -provoking us, these
people. For weeks I’ve been keeping a tight rein—
and hardly do I turn my back when the King gets
himself into this messl
ROON
How do you explain this in view of his undeniable
sense of dignity ?
BISMARCK
Do you know the map of Germany, Roon ?
roon ( laughing )
Fairly well, I think.
bismarck {draws on the tablecloth with his finger )
Look here. There’s Bad Ems,on the beautiful green
Lahn. And here, hardly a pencil length away, is
Coblenz, on the beautiful green Rhine—where the
Queen is. So there he is, at seventy-three, walking
up and down Ems; he loves peace; he doesn’t want
to risk the laurels which you two have twined for him—
{lower) —as if laurels mattered! ( Again to roon.)
And then little notes and telegrams keep coming
from his wife with her eternal fears and her utter lack
of national feeling I Then one is chivalrous, she is a
Queen after all thinks he to himself—and my Queen,
moreover, he adds.
C 194 ]
ACT h
UNION
ROON
Do you get as exact reports as that even when you
are on leave ?
bismarck (mysteriously)
At Varzin when I put my ear to the ground I hear
noises all over Germany. (Pause.) She reminded
him of Jena and Tilsit! That’s enough to terrify an
old man 1
moltke (who has been listening as he stands in the
corner)
The King is afraid of everything except danger.
[Secretary hands a telegram and exit.
BISMARCK
From the King. Would you be interested to hear
it? “ Count Benedetti accosted me this morning on
the promenade, in order to request me, in a tone
which finally became very importunate, to bind
myself for all future time to allow no Hohenzollern
to become a candidate for the Spanish throne. I
ended by repulsing him rather sharply.”
moltke (coming up)
This is terrible.
bismarck (continuing)
“ As the news about Prince Anton came in just
then, I decided not to receive Benedetti again, but
arranged that he should be told that I had received
the news already known to him and had nothing
more' to say to him.”
ROON
Spa water with Eau de Cologne 1
J «« 3
UNION
ACT II
bismarck (reads to the end of the telegram with quick¬
ened attention — then, in a lower tone, visibly
thinking,, repeats it aloud)
“ I leave it to you to communicate Benedetti’s new
demands and their rejection to our representatives
abroad and to the Press."
[The Generals walk restlessly up and down,
much moved. Bismarck re-reads the
whole telegram silently to himself,follow¬
ing the words with his finger.
roon (after an agitated pause, bursts out)
Now Pm going to resign tool
bismarck (crossing over)
Stop 1 (He comes forward weighing the paper in his
hand, biting his lip, and, in great excitement, stands
gripping a chair.) Don’t you find it desperately hot
in here? My back’s running with perspiration.
(Swallows a glass of wine.) That cools the eternal
flame—if only for a minute. Resign, Roon ? Don’t
speak of such a thing 1
ROON
What about you ?
bismarck (after a pause during which he looks from one
to another, turns to moltke, who has been watching
him, withforced composure, and in a changed,
coldly business-like tone)
Are you ready, General ?
MOLTKE (slowly)
One is never ready.
[ « 9 « ].
Slide} lit} it
MoLIKt
ACT II
UNION
BISMARCK
Are you fully confident of victory?
moltke {nods)
Fortune of war excepted.
BISMARCK
Would a speedy outbreak be to our disadvantage ?
MOLTKB
On the contrary.
BISMARCK
How long do you require to get to the fortresses ?
MOLTKE
Four weeks.
ROON
You told me three.
MOLTKE
Best to promise the politicians too little.
ROOK
What news makes you ask these questions ?
bismarck {composedly)
This telegram.
ROON
The Ems telegram ?
bismarck {bursting out)
A colossal piece of folly has come from Paris!
We have the gods to thank for Gramont’s little-
minded conceit 1 {Rings. Enter Secretary. Very
[ 197 ]
UNION
ACT II
rapidly.) Send at once to the Norddeutsche Algemeine.
They are to reserve paper for a special supplement.
Edition, half a million. Distribution gratis at our
expense. Come back in three minutes and take down
the text. [Exit Secretary in wild excitement.
roon ( excitedly)
What are you about ?
BISMARCK
The King has directed me to publish. A few
words will do— {Sitting on the corner of the table he
takes a large pencil., makes a few bold strokes , and slowly
reads out) —“ After the renunciation of the Prince
the French Ambassador demanded of the King that
he should bind himself for all future time never again
to allow a Hohenzollern to be a candidate. On this
the King declined to receive him again and directed
that he should be informed that His Majesty had
nothing more to say to him.”
MOLTKE
A call to arms 1
BISMARCK
If Paris—swallows—that, I’ll turn Turkl ( Walks
up and down working out his plan.) At five Berlin
will know. (To the Secretary, who re-enters.) Here,
this is for the Norddeutsche. A message in the same
terms is to be sent at once in cipher to all our repre¬
sentatives abroad.
secretary ( embarrassed)
But, your Excellency—we two alone—it’ll be a
long job-
C 198 ]
ACT II
UNION
BISMARCK
But where’s Fly? What’s his name—? Your
star cipherer ?
SECRETARY
Flick? He’s on leave.
bismarck {can't make it out)
On leave ? Why ? Where is he ?
secretary {anxiously)
At his cousin’s in the Schonhauser All^e.
BISMARCK
Send a carriage: fetch him back. Everything must
be despatched to the eighteen capitals within an hour.
{Exit Secretary.) Everything depends on this hour.
My peaceful Master would recall everything in a
twinkling—so it must be already on the wires!
Everything depends on the feeling in Europe. As
things are now, we are the provoked parties 1 Thank
God for your folly, Duke—for ever and ever. Amen!
roon ( laughing excitedly)
Ha 1 Ha! You and I—you and I will both remain
in office for some little while yet!
bismarck {stillplanning)
At eleven Gramont will get it from his Minister.
If we only had television! Gramont’s face—I’d
give a thaler to see itl At eleven the telegram will
reach him from Berne, at eleven-ten from Florence, at
eleven-twenty from Vienna. Then will come London,
Petersburg—always the same, always the same ghastly
words grinning at him—“refused to receive!”
C *99 ]
UNION
ACT II
Every ten minutes he’ll have to beat his forehead and
cry, “ What a fool I have been 1 ”—Ah, the fire of
revenge burns brighter than the fire of lovel Eh,
General ?
MOLTKE
I don’t know.
{Walks up and down , deep in thought .
BISMARCK
Are you already counting the cannon, General?
What’ll be your Christmas present to Gramont,
when they go off?
moltke (standing still\ breaking out suddenly just once)
The old God is not dead!
BISMARCK
Unfortunately He usually remains neutral.—
You’re raising your glass against the sun, Roon?
ROON
I was thinking of Napoleon’s fate.
moltke {questioning bismarck as bismarck formerly
questioned him)
Who is likely to take sides with France?
bismarck
That will be decided by your first victories. Vienna
and Florence will behave themselves and wait.
The Czar is sure, and will keep the Danes quiet. Eng¬
land- [Enter johanna.
[ 200 ]
ACT II
UNION
johanna (all excitement)
The King has unexpectedly arrived! His carriage
is at the door 1
[The Generals straighten their uniforms.
Servant removes the refreshments.
BISMARCK (calls)
Engel 1 Get the trunks off the carriage!
JOHANNA
You’re staying? We’re staying? How long?
bismarck (laughing slyly)
That depends on whether these two gentlemen
will take a civilian like me with them to France 1
JOHANNA
God in heaven 1 The boys 1
BISMARCK
They’ll both be in itl [Exit centre.
johanna (sinks into a chair—in a low tone)
O God, my Saviour—My two boys—1 Could—
it not—have been avoided ?
MOLTKE
The destiny of a people.
aide-de-camp (enterings announces)
His Majesty!
[Enter the kino, after him bismarck. Then
exit Aide-de-camp. The king, about
seventy , chivalrous in manner , aged but
still erect as in the First Part.
C 201 ]
UNION
ACT II
KING
Good morning, my dear Countess. ’Morning,
gentlemen. (7o johanna.) I hope you profited by
your holiday? The Queen sends you her greetings.
Excuse me for breaking in so suddenly and disturbing
you all.
JOHANNA
Your Majesty. [Curtseys and exit.
king {sits down, while the three stand before him. After
a pause, almost gently)
And what now?
bismarck ( firmly)
Your order has been carried out, your Majesty.
KING
What order ?
BISMARCK
Benedetti’s insolence will be known this evening
in all the capitals of Europe.
king {gets up startled)
You have already—? So hastily! I came to
speak to you about it before anything was done!
Couldn’t you have—? What do you mean? {All
three wrap themselves in obstinate silence .) You are
silent! You look as if everything was settled! {A
further silence.) That’s what you have to tell me.
I feel quite cold! What will happen ?
bismarck {meaningly)
It has happened, your Majesty.
[A long pause. The king goes to the win¬
dow.
[ 202 ]
ACT II
UNION
king (aside in a low voice)
God is my witness—it was not my wish.
bismarck (comingforward: vigorously)
You have a better witness, your Majesty. Europe
has seen what we have seen! You have done more
for peace than—I could answer for.
king (turning again to the three)
But if Napoleon sits down under our counter¬
stroke ?
BISMARCK
Then he’s lost in Paris.
KING
And if he strikes?
MOLTKE
Then he’s lost in the field.
KINO
You’re not afraid of France’s striking power?
MOLTKE
If an army breaks into Bavaria not a man of them
will get out again.
KING
I hope the Bavarians will be willing to fight,
BISMARCK
They are only asking themselves on whose side,
your Majesty. On ours or on the other.
[ 203 ]
UNION
ACT II
king ( startled again)
You don’t feel sure of the South ?
BISMARCK
Certainly notl
KING
You think it possible— ? Yet you would risk—?
BISMARCK
It is because I don’t feel sure of Bavaria that we
must risk it.
king ( vehemently )
But that was the very reason why I always had to
give way. Have you read the Munich papers?
“ What have we to do with King Wilhelm— he s not
a German question ? ” Do you know what’s behind
this insolent tone ?
BISMARCK
Napoleon has promised Bavaria the Palatinate—
if they keep quiet.
KING
You believe that and yet you break off? Then I
fail to understand your rashness 1 So you’re going
mad again, Count Bismarck!
BISMARCK
I have always seemed to be going mad at the
decisive moment during these last eight years 1 Yet
I have always tried to make it clear that we are not
making war with the support of Unity, but that
Unity can'be attained only through war. Four years
ago we achieved the Northern Confederation. Now
we must try to achieve the same for all Germany.
[ ao 4 ]
ACT II
UNION
kino (after a pause )
What do my Generals think ?
Ready.
MOLTKE
KING
You realize how high the stakes are ?
BISMARCK
The game is worth the candle!
C 2° S ]
ACT III
Before Sedan, 1 st and md September
Scene I —A room at Donchery
A low room , everything improvised, the occupants
being in the field. At the back a sort of office with a
confusion of maps, papers, pieces of equipment,
brushes, and bottles. R. a large table. It is late
evening. Letters are being sealed at candles set in
bottles. Until the beginning of the conference
orderlies come and go. From outside frequent
sounds of passing drums, waggons, and marching
troops. This atmosphere must be maintained
throughout the whole scene. In this Act everyone is
in uniform. In front L. Three Highnesses, one
elderly and two young Princes. All these are in
strikingly elegant uniforms.
first highness (coming in, to the others')
Ninety thousand prisoners ! Actually ninety
thousand!
SECOND HIGHNESS
Since Cannae there has never been such a victory 1
Since Cannae 1 You know Edward—the last Punic
War!
FIRST HIGHNESS
I’m tremendously proud of having contributed our
share of it. The figures are stupendous!
third highness (the old gentleman)
Don’t be carried away by the mere thousands,
my friends. Moltke says sixty generals have been
[ 206 ]
ACT III UNION
captured. Sixty generals! They’re the truffles in
our Soupe & la Napoleon\
FIRST HIGHNESS
Really one feels quite sorry for the man.
second highness ( sharply )
Sorry? Since when is one sorry for the enemy?
Have you become a pacifist ?
FIRST HIGHNESS
Pshaw! Well, I passed his carriage a little while
ago—with the servants powdered <2 la Longjumeau —
very smart. We should really introduce it, don’t you
think ?
SECOND HIGHNESS
You didn’t salute him, I hope?
FIRST HIGHNESS
Of course I did. The Emperor!
SECOND HIGHNESS
Well now, if any journalist happened to see it
and reports it in the papers .—
first highness (cunningly)
That’s just what I should like. One is mentioned
far too seldom! In our little hole they’d like very
much to read: “ His Highness the Hereditary
Prince, in accordance with the chivalrous tradition of
his august House, raised his hand to his cap—in
spite of everything 1 ”
third highness
Ahl I can tell you all about that! My father
went through it all with the first Napoleon.
C 207 ]
UNION
ACT III
SECOND HIGHNESS
Of course, my father did too, your Royal Highness.
Unfortunately we were then-
THIRD HIGHNESS
On the other side. I know, my dear Prince.
SECOND HIGHNESS
I beg your pardon! Only at first. Just before the
happy end of the War our Dynasty went over with
flying colours to the German cause.
THIRD HIGHNESS
I was going to say that the great scene on the hill
this afternoon was simply—bourgeois. If you had
lived in France as much as I have, you would know
how such an historic drama should be staged.
FIRST HIGHNESS
That’s just what I was saying, wasn’t it, Heinrich?
THIRD HIGHNESS
The French General rides up, takes off his cap, and
hands over Napoleon’s letter with the red seal. Then,
gentlemen, a half circle should have been formed—
historic attitudes—a silence that could be felt 1 What
happened ? Two chairs were propped on one another,
if you please, for King Wilhelm to write his reply onl
That’s Prussian management for youl
SECOND HIGHNESS
Very true 1 If I hadn’t had my notepaper with the
eagle, which I keep in my holster for all historic
emergencies, I dornt see how any reply could have
been sent at all.
[ 208 ]-
ACT III
UNION
THIRD HIGHNESS
Did you watch Bismarck’s face while he was
drafting his King’s reply ?
FIRST HIGHNESS
No. Was there anything to see ?
THIRD HIGHNESS
Just nothing 1 Not a trace of historic perception
of the great hour 1
FIRST HIGHNESS
No, really—Bismarck!
THIRD HIGHNESS
Yesterday I told Prussia my opinion—how danger¬
ous it is to tell the Federal Chancellor of the decisions
of the General Staff—even after they have been
taken. It might put it in the power of this Colonel
— or what is he now ? — to stop our march to Paris
—as he stopped our going to Vienna in ’66.
SECOND HIGHNESS
No doubt. Our whole policy might have taken a
different turn had we marched into Vienna then.
FIRST HIGHNESS
I hear on good authority that Fritz is against him.
If so we may perhaps presently see—a change ?
SECOND HIGHNESS
By the way, your Royal Highness, how do you find
“our Fritz ”?
THIRD HIGHNESS
Mon Dieu! These people carry their heads high.
They see the first streaks of an Imperial dawn-
C 2 °9 }
P
UNION
ACT III
first and second highnesses ( simultaneously )
Oh I say!—come now! We haven’t got as far
as that yet!
THIRD HIGHNESS
Why not? The shark is opening his jaws to
swallow us.
FIRST HIGHNESS
It’s clear that the Saxons are now quite ready for it.
SECOND HIGHNESS
True, but what about Hanover ?
THIRD HIGHNESS
I agree, but what of Wiirttemberg? {A painful
pause .) Do you think it’ll soon be a case of home?
After six weeks I’ve had enough of draughts.
SECOND HIGHNESS
Well, I should hope so! The Emperor captured,
the war over. What more is there ?
FIRST HIGHNESS
I’m not sure I want it to end just yet. I should be
quite pleased to have another half dozen or so to
take back.
SECOND HIGHNESS
What—enemies ?
FIRST HIGHNESS
No—decorations.
THIRD HIGHNESS
Here comes the Federal Chancellor.
[ ]
ACT III
UNION
[Bismarck has come in behind in a rather
untidy Halberstadt uniform. He looks
tired and careworn. The Princes
surround him.
THIRD HIGHNESS
What’s the latest, Count ?
FIRST HIGHNESS
When are you going to make peace ?
SECOND HIGHNESS
Preliminaries to-day! What ?
bismarck (muttering and grumbling in a low tone)
I’m starting in five minutes. So I must ask your
Highnesses—and your Serene Highness—to make
room for the Council of War.
FIRST HIGHNESS
And when are we for home ?
bismarck (looking daggers)
Your Serene Highness can get leave at any time.
[Busies himself with the papers on the big
table. Keeps standings and speaks mostly
over his shoulder.
THIRD HIGHNESS
Do you intend to settle to-day ?
BISMARCK
With whom, your Royal Highness ?
THIRD HIGHNESS
With Napoleon, of course.
C an ]
UNION
ACT Ill
BISMARCK
He is a sovereign no longer.
FIRST HIGHNESS
Oh! Well, what shall we see in Paris to-morrow?
BISMARCK
A revolution perhaps.
SECOND HIGHNESS
No! You don’t say sol How tremendously
interesting. Then we’ll—simply—take over Paris!
bismarck ( looking up , after a pause)
Yes, we’ll march in.
FIRST HIGHNESS
May we ask ? What will the ceremony be ?
BISMARCK
Ceremony ?
SECOND HIGHNESS
Why—to-night—the Capitulation.
BISMARCK
Here’s the table. Look; it has four legs. It’s
pine, I think. Anyhow, it’s solid. And where I sit
is the head.
second highness ( offended)
Your Excellency’s nerves seem to be rather
affected these days.
BISMARCK
Necessary business never tires me. ( Turns in a
friendly way to an Orderly.) Hallo! Have you been
[ 212 l
ACT III UNION
stationed here ? I seem to know you but your name
escapes me--
ORDERLY
Radwitz, Sir; son of the road inspector at Varzin.
BISMARCK
Of course! No complaints ? Not been hit yet ?
Do they give you enough to eat ? Good 1
[ Turns again to his papers,
the highnesses {formally)
’Evening, your Excellency.
bismarck (relieved and very polite)
Good evening, your Highnesses.
[Exit the Highnesses with a clink of spurs.
At the door they greet the crown prince,
who is seen dismounting outside,
orderly {announces)
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Prussia.
bismarck {under his breath )
The devil 1 It’s impossible to get anything done.
[Goes to meet him,
crown prince {about forty , robust and elegant. His
excellent manners conceal his distrust of bismarck.
Comes forward. The conversation takes place in a
subdued tone)
Only two seconds. I wanted to ask you personally
what you think should be done about the meeting.
bismarck
I said to Napoleon; first capitulate, then see the
C 213 ]
UNION
ACT III
King. Otherwise His Majesty will be weak and
allow himself to be wheedled into heaven knows what
concessions. All this is, of course, assuming that we
get a settlement to-night.
crown pri nce {coming rather nearer and more familiarly )
And when—might we expect peace ?
BISMARCK
If we had not had the bad luck to capture the
Emperor we might perhaps have had peace to¬
morrow. As things are—it’s a long way off I
CROWN PRINCE
Yet-
BISMARCK
What are your Royal Highness’s commands ?
CROWN PRINCE
It’s a question of life and death. I know we are
in the field, but time presses, I am Heir Appar¬
ent—
bismarck {attentively)
Why do you hesitate, your Royal Highness ?
CROWN PRINCE
In order—not to defer a great event— {A pause ,
then stammers.) After this tremendous victory would
it not be the moment to proclaim the Empire—and
the Kaiser in the field?
bismarck {looks intently at him)
The Empire? And a Kaiser—? I fear that’s
some considerable way ahead yet. [Pause.
[ 214 ]
ACT III
UNION
CROWN PRINCE
You are in a more melancholy humour than one
would expect on a great day like this.
bismarck ( darkly )
What a reputation one has in the world! The
old women, when they see my face, fall on their knees
before the Bloodhound, and think I’m a regular
Attila. Blood! If I only knew whether or not my
son is bleeding now.
crown prince (goes to him cordially)
But I saw Count Bill only two hours ago.
BISMARCK
No, I mean Herbert.
crown prince ( briskly )
First Dragoons, isn’t it? They’ve been at the
Western escarpment all day.
BISMARCK
The heaviest losses were there. It’s not evacuated
yet.
crown prince
I’ll send two orderlies there at once. You’ll hear
in an hour. Courage, your Excellency! Good
evening. [Exit.
bismarck (while the office works on behind him> sits
alone at the table in front , very grave , low )
What does Napoleon’s phrase mean ? “ I surrender
my sword!” What sort of a sword is that? I don’t
trust him. (Calls.) Radwitz!
I ]
UNION
ACT III
ORDERLY
Sir?
BISMARCK
Bring me something hot. For ten hours I’ve
swallowed nothing but rainwater. (Exit Orderly.)
If only I knew that Herbert is not lying thirsty
somewhere-
[j Enter moltke and roon behind. They sign
to the soldiers, who have sprung to
attention, to go on working, and come
forward. The Orderly brings food to
bismarck, which he swallows standing
at a corner of the table.
BISMARCK
Have the Frenchmen come ?
roon
Rendezvous at 11. Still three minutes.
BISMARCK
How is your son to-night?
roon
The left lung is still bleeding. We must wait.
BISMARCK
Severe losses. A Biilow has fallen. Young
Itzenplitz killed.
ROON
Two Count Yorcks ditto. Moltke, thank God
you have no son.
moltke (aside as usual)
I thank God for the victory.
[ 216 ]
ACT III
UNION
BISMARCK
I hope your boy has at any rate got the Cross.
ROON
Nothing. Crosses sprout only in Court circles.
bismarck ( aloud , so that the clerks can hear)
And all these demi-gods are hoping to sleep in the
State beds of the Rot Soleil! I didn’t get any bed at
all till yesterday, and then it was only a child’s bed.
ROON
I am separated from my staff, too.
BISMARCK
There’s no sort of privacy; everything has to be
done in public. Roon, couldn’t you issue an Army
order forbidding the sentries always to stand to
attention when one-
MOLTKE
Gentlemen—the enemy.
orderly {announcing)
The French Generals.
[At moltke’s nod the Clerks disappear .
An Aide-de-camp steps to his side and
afterwards takes notes . Then enter
general wimpffen, a smart, attrac¬
tive., elderly officer . With him two
other Generals. No greetings .
moltke (who takes the middle place on the German side)
With whom are we speaking ?
[ *i 7 ]
UNION
ACT III
WIMPFFEN
Wimpffen, General in Command of the Fortress
of Sedan. {Presents.) General Faure, General
Castelnau. [<S7/^ salutes.
MOLTKE
Your full powers ?
[He takes a paper handed to him ; on this
follows another, almost marionette-like,
exchange of salutes. Moltke invites
them to sit down. He takes the head on
the right-hand side ; on his right, facing
the audience, is roon; bismarck is on
the left, with his hack to the audience.
On the left-hand side wimpffen is at the
head with the two other Generals on his
left. On the table are three bottles with
candles and a few papers. There is a
long pause. The French obviously expect
to be addressed; equally obvious is
moltke’s ostentatiously obstinate silence.
Meanwhile drums are heard outside.
Finally:
WIMPFFEN
I should like—we should like—to know the con¬
ditions on which we are to surrender the fortress.
moltke {icy, immovable, without raising his voice)
The Army to be prisoners of war, with colours,
arms, and baggage. The officers likewise, but to
retain their arms.
[A pause. The Frenchmen look at one
another.
[ ai8 ]
ACT III
UNION
WIMPFFEN
Too hard, General! Take the fortress and the
artillery, but let the Army with arms, colours, and
baggage withdraw into internment in Algeria, on an
undertaking not to fight again in this war.
MOLTKE
Our demands are irreducible.
wimpffen {gets up , gathers himself together — heatedly)
General! Do you really ask an honourable soldier
to soil his unblemished name by signing such a thing ?
Allow me to appeal to your feelings as an officer!
moltke {icy)
You lost the battle.
wimpffen {con brio )
I did not. Listen and you shall hear how it is
that I have the misfortune to be in charge here.
MacMahon was wounded this morning. He named
Ducrot as his successor. He ordered a retreat.
I had returned direct from Algiers only two days
before and was furious at this order. On Sunday
in Paris the Minister of War had given me a decree
empowering me to take command if MacMahon fell
out. I demanded the command, because I believed
I could win. Ducrot shrugged his shoulders and
handed over to me. I gave the order to advance.
He rushed up the hill and two of our divisions had
to withdraw to Garenne. I meant to throw the
Bavarians into the Meuse, meant to break through—
then comes Lebrun, with an orderly, showing a white
doth on his lance. The troops threw themselves on
it and tore it down. I refused to acknowledge it.
C 2I 9 ]
UNION
ACT III
With three thousand men we stormed on towards
Bazeilles right into the thick of your fire. I was
hoping for a bullet. When I turned at last at the
water-tower I found myself alone. I could still see
my orderly behind me, but he soon fell. (Slowly,
after a pause.) I turned then and rode slowly back.
At Sedan I wanted to resign the command, but then
everyone cried out: “ This very morning you insisted
on having it.” Ducrot jeered at me—I saw the
Emperor-
[His emotion masters him and he breaks off -—
sitting down heavily. A pause. At this
moment an Orderly goes up to bismarck,
who rises , leaves the table , and comes
forward R. In a low voice.
bismarck ( much moved )
My son ? Wounded ? Where ? At—at Varzin ?
ORDERLY
Two hours from here, your Excellency.
bismarck ( glancing at the table)
Lower your voice, manl Where does this come
from?
ORDERLY
From the General commanding the Tenth Corps.
bismarck (crumpling a paper in his hand)
In the lungs ?
ORDERLY
Gunshot wound—thigh.
bismarck (touching his hip)
Through—here ?
[ 220 J
ACT III
UNION
ORDERLY
The Crown Prince sent me to take you there.
BISMARCK
Just now it is impossible. After the conference.
Wait for me outside.
[Goes slowly and heavily back to his-place.
moltke (who has been waiting for him—tonelessly and
coldly )
I regret your misfortune, General. Your troops
fought brilliantly, but your only course is to sign.
wimpffen (fiercely)
If you will concede me nothing, General, as a
soldier, do it as a German! You too need peace—
•and soon. My country is prouder than any other,
chivalrous and susceptible to magnanimity. Do in
policy what you refuse in compassion! Give us
conditions which will spare the self-respect of the
Grande Armee , and you will gain the friendship of
the whole nation. The pain will be alleviated, the
peace more lasting. If you remain cold and ruthless,
if you stir to fury the sense of honour of my people,
you will sow a crop of wrath and revenge. It will
come to war again and again and there will be no end!
bismarck (gets up and speaks , at first with marked
politeness)
Your arguments are enticing, General, but they are
unsound. It is never wise to reckon on the thanks of
individuals, and it is always dangerous to build on
the gratitude of a people. If your country were like
others, with well established institutions and a Prince
firmly seated on his Throne, we might perhaps count
■ l 221 }
UNION
ACT III
on that gratitude. But with you, for the last eighty
years, the tide has ebbed and flowed and nothing
firm has survived. France has declared war on us a
dozen times out of jealousy—as on this occasion.
You regard glory as your monopoly—your exclusive
heritage. I am not one of those who are in the habit
of extolling their own country as the citadel of virtue.
But why should I admit that you are prouder than
we ? On the contrary! You, yes, you , cannot endure
that another people should grow up by your side as
great as yourselves. And, as you haven’t been able
to forgive us for Sadowa, where after all it was not
you who were defeated, how could you ever forgive us
for this catastrophe at Sedan ? Whatever concessions
we make you, you will from this day forth brood over
your revenge. That I foresee with certainty from
this moment. It is this eternally unresting C C ,L it ot
provocation that we must break to-c 1 ;^ in order to
secure the safety of our children co whom we are
response.
wimpffen ( heatedly )
You are mistaken, your Excellency. We are not
the same people as fifty years ago. You cannot judge
us by the verses of a few poets or the articles of a few
journalists. The new Empire has created riches. All
our people have their heads full of nothing but trade
and business. Everyone wants to be comfortable,
thinks of his own interests, and all too little of
national glory. To-day, on the ruins of the Grande
Armee , let us proclaim the brotherhood of our peoples
and banish the old vendetta 1 The hereditary hatred
between France and England is already at an end.
BISMARCK
Indeed I wish that were all true, and that you were
[ 222 ] ,
ACT III
UNION
all of the same mind as the sensible part of your nation,
who didn’t want this war. But I know your instincts
better. Nothing has changed in France! The
Emperor challenged us in order to strengthen his
House by new triumphs. Then, alas, there is that
bellicose section of Frenchmen which makes and
unmakes Governments in your country. We want
to come to grips with that section and that’s why we
must go to Paris! Can you give me any assurance,
General, that to-morrow there will not arise a new
Government which will care nothing for the present
social system, and which, in its anarchic way, will tear
up the treaty you wish to extract from us to-night?
How could we allow your best troops, who have been
delivered into our hands by the fortune of war, to go
free, and have them shooting at us again to-morrow I
{A pause , then warmly.) I am sorry for your fate.
But—you are lost.
wimpffen (after a pause , solemn and sullen)
As we cannot sign this we must begin the battle
again to-morrow.
CASTELNAU
First I have a message from His Majesty to deliver.
(Moltke nods.) The Emperor wishes the King of
Prussia to be informed that he surrendered his sword
unconditionally to His Majesty with the definite hope
that the King, in recognition of the sacrifice, would
grant an honourable capitulation to the Army-
[Pause.
BISMARCK
Is that all? (A pause , then very emphatically.)
Now General: whose sword precisely is it that the
Emperor Napoleon III surrendered to-day? Is it
C * 2 3 ]
UNION
ACT III
the sword of France ? In that case the conditions
could be made very much milder. If, on the contrary,
it is only--
CASTELNAU
It is only the Emperor’s sword.
BISMARCK
Then there can only be remission for the Emperor,
moltke (rises)
It is nearly midnight.
wimpffen (terribly agitated)
I appeal to my Army! To its honour 1 We may
yet break through to-morrow 1 You will lose thous¬
ands of brave soldiers; we, perhaps, will lose more;
all of whom you could now save by a stroke of the
pen l
ROON
MacMahon’s Army only the day before yesterday
mustered 1 20,000 men. Now there’s nothing left.
MOLTKE
By midday I shall have shot Sedan to ashes.
wimpffen (passionately)
I will anticipate you. I’ll blow up the fortress in the
morning.
moltke ( adamant )
Do so by all means.
wimpffen (to whom his comrades have been making
signs)
One moment. (He goes aside with them , talking in
a low voice . At the same time the Germans have risen .
C 22 4 3 ,
ACT III
UNION
Bismarck is speaking to moltke, likewise in low tones.
In a minute or two the parties return to the table. All
remain standing. With dignity , mastering his anger.)
In this terrible position—in order to save men’s lives
—as you are inexorable; one single condition which
I guarantee on the honour of France and will un¬
failingly keepl (Moltke looks inquiringly at him.)
Leave for all officers to depart with arms and baggage
on parole not to fight again.
MOLTKE
Granted. \He pushes a paper towards him.
wimpffen {after reading it through silently)
Here I should like to insert not to fight against
Germany again “ in this war."
bismarck (smiling broadly but significantly)
Very well, General; “ in this war."
[Wimpffen signs>.
Scene II —A Winter Garden in Chateau Bellevue ,
near Sedan.
The following afternoon. Brilliant sunshine. View of
an old park through windows and double glass
doors which are open. A short flight of steps leads
down into the garden. Generals castelnau and
wimpffen enter from opposite sides.
wimpffen ( briskly)
Well 1 How did you sleep ?
[ 22 * ]
Q
UNION
ACT III
castelnau ( troubled )
Not a wink. And you ?
WIMPFFEN
Very well indeed.
CASTELNAU
I’m surprised at you.
WIMPFFEN
A bullet in the head or go on living. Any third
course is merely sentimental.
CASTELNAU
Go on living ? What for ?
WIMPFFEN
For the Revanche , of course. What a question 1
CASTELNAU
Then Bismarck—wasn’t far wrong last night?
WIMPFFEN
If he was wrong I have lost my honour.
CASTELNAU
Do you think {motioning towards the garden ) that
He is also of that opinion ?
WIMPFFEN
He f He’s a dead man.
[Napoleo n comes through the garden . In the
clear sunlight he looks grey and ill in his
fine uniform. Smokes a cigarette. He
comes slowly up the steps in a state of
[ 226 ]
ACT III
UNION
nervous tension in which his mood
changes every minute. The Generals
stand in silence.
emperor (chiefly to himself)
“ I’m familiar with this neighbourhood,” the
Chasseur said. “ Believe me, Sire, if the Germans
get round by Illy we are lost—” Is it time yet for the
visit, gentlemen ?
CASTELNAU
Not for a minute or two, Sire.
EMPEROR
Yes, well. I can offer him nothing: I have nothing
now which is mine to offer.
WIMPFFEN
You’ll get it over in ten minutes, Sire.
EMPEROR
Get it over ? I have material for hours of conversa¬
tion with Bismarck. Did you find him very un¬
pleasant ?
WIMPFFEN
These people are always so self-righteous.
emperor ( lightly )
And we? (Pause.) That was a nice Chasseur
yesterday morning. I cannot forget the honest,
simple way the boy spoke to me in his anxiety—“ I
am familiar with this neighbourhood, Sire; believe
me, if the Germans get round us—” (He breaks off>
walks up and down.) How is it, General, that I have
never spent a day or two here? The situation is
charming.
[ 227 ]
UNION
ACT III
CASTELNAU
But you have, Sire. Six or eight years ago we
were here in the autumn with Her Majesty-
emperor {with sudden vehemence)
Still nothing from the Empress ? From Paris ?
WIMPFFEN
We are cut off, Sire.
EMPEROR
I keep forgetting. Do you think the Regency in
Paris is strong? (Both silent .) You think they’ll
turn us out to-day or to-morrow? Of course you
think so. (Walks up and down.) Certainly we have
stayed here; but it was later in the year. The leaves
had fallen. The Empress’s room was up there.
There was, I remember, a pretty chimney-piece in her
—boudoir. There was some sort of a cherub coming
down from heaven—on the chimney-piece-
CASTELNAU
It is the room I slept in last night. It’s a Cupid
afraid of the fire and always smiling. He nearly got
on my nerves-
EMPEROR
How long did I hesitate yesterday forenoon when
Ducrot advised the flag of truce ?
CASTELNAU
Three minutes, Sire.
EMPEROR
They will say, “ He wanted to save his life.”
{Smiling.) And what a life 1
[ 228 \
ACT III
UNION
footman ( announcing )
Count Bismarck.
[Enter bismarck, salutes the Generals, who
withdraw into the garden—bows low to
the emperor, then stands^ lookinggigantic
beside him.
BISMARCK
I have the honour, your Majesty, to announce the
visit of my most gracious Master. (Pause.) What
are your commands, Sire ?
emperor (invites him to sit down)
We’re no longer at St. Cloud, Count.
BISMARCK (coldly)
Personally I regret most deeply-
emperor (nervously interrupting)
Do you remember your last visit? Wasn’t it in
’ 67 ?
BISMARCK
That was at Biarritz.
EMPEROR
Quite right. Prince Metternich was there too.
We talked—half a morning—about Europe. When
you were gone the Prince told me a whole pack of
stories about you. A lot of nonsense. I remember
I said-
bismarck (slightly emphatic but still very civil)
No doubt your Majesty then said about me:
“ Interesting but not to be taken seriously.”
C “9 ]
UNION
ACT III
emperor ( adroitly )
You think so ? That’s not the way I put it. All
the same you had some fantastic schemes.
BISMARCK
I only suggested you shouldn’t oppose German
Unity unless you wished to have grave complications.
emperor {looks long and seriously at him )
You did. I took all that in. I should have listened
only to my own counsel.
BISMARCK ( cautiously )
And why, Sire—did you so suddenly give up a
prescription which guaranteed you all your great
achievements ?
EMPEROR
Because I have become a sick man who has lost
confidence in himself.
Bismarck {looks at him with sympathy)
I am all the more pained by the change, as you are
not responsible for it.
EMPEROR
You’re wrong. I feel relieved. It was only that
last fortnight after I left Ch&lons, when I had really
ceased to be either a General or a Sovereign, that was
unbearable. Only now that I’m responsible again
do I feel alive. ( Stands up suddenly , sharp and
aggressive.) I deliberately made myself a prisoner,
Count Bismarck 1 I hoped we should be rewarded for
that decision by your magnanimity. If your King
had presided at the Council of War he would have
dealt more chivalrously with usl
C 230 }
ACT III
UNION
bismarck (quietly)
In Prussia, Sire, the Crown is not absolute. But,
so far as I am concerned, my memory retains instances
not only of French chivalry, but of French duplicity 1
[Napoleon strides towards him. Movement
in the garden. Footmen. Officers at
the door. Enter the king. Salutes
outside. Bismarck bows and exit.
The glass doors are now shut. Both
hesitate a jew seconds about shaking
hands , but finally do so with a simul¬
taneous movement .
EMPEROR
I am deeply obliged to you, Sire, for your kindness
in coming to see me.
king (sympathetic but reserved throughout )
I have come to express to you my admiration for
the bravery of your army.
EMPEROR
I don't know whether I have still the right to
thank you in the name of France.
[A pause. They sit down.
KING
I beg you to express to me your wishes for the
future.
emperor ( defensively )
I have none to express, Sire. Your artillery won
the battle. It is the best in the world.
[ * 3 * ]
UNION
ACT III
KING
We have taken pains to learn from the experience
of other countries.
EMPEROR
General von Moltke operated brilliantly. But
you had a most enviable position!
KING
We won it for ourselves, Sire.
emperor {with sudden liveliness)
Do you see the chain of hills there ?
KING
You mean La Moncelle ?
emperor {nodding)
I was often there as a young man. The shooting
is delightful. Yesterday morning I wandered about
here—in order to find—one of your bullets. I had
suddenly realized clearly how we stood. Wimpffen
advised me to make a last sortie at the head of my
troops. But I—‘when I got back to the Prefecture—
everybody had crowded back into the town and there
were only provisions for one day more—Lebrun
didn’t come back—I suddenly felt the hearts of
80,000 men beating in this old ailing breast of minel
They could be saved! To-morrow they would be
lost 1 It was at that moment that I first learned that
the whole German Army, that you yourself, were
before the town. Could I really surrender the Army
of Solferino to the King of Prussia ? I heard the cry
which would go up from Paris—! {A pause , then
C 232 ]-
ACT III UNION
more quietly .) And so I handed over my sword to you
to sacrifice myself for France.
KING
By that resolve you saved many thousand lives.
Is that not enough for you ?
emperor (rising)
If I had had my way not a single life would have
been lost.
KING
I know you were against the war.
emperor ( vehemently , standing before the king, who
remains seated)
Since my youth, in my manifestos and in my
speeches, I have always said that France and Prussia
are natural allies. It was because the great Napoleon
did not grasp this that he came to ruin.
KING
I was among those who fought against him. His
downfall seemed to me to be inevitable because he had
begun to deify himself.
emperor (who had walked away , suddenly comes up to
him)
No more, Sire! (Pause.) You asked about my
wishes. Do with me as you will. But I will not
tolerate a word against my Ancestor!
king (politely)
I shouldn’t have said it, Sire, if on former occasions
you had not impressed upon me that you won your
Throne for yourself.
[ 2 33 ]
UNION
ACT III
EMPEROR
And did I not? Insurrection, Prison, Escape I
Renewed insurrection—a fortress, and again escape—
all to gain a Throne which was mine by right, for I,
after my Brother’s death, was Bonaparte’s next heir.
KING
I am glad to see you so earnest in favour of legitim¬
ate succession, as at first you seemed to be rather
inclined to a Republic.
emperor {smiling)
The Republic with us is never more than an ebb
between two floods which wash crowns up on to our
shores.
king ( impressed)
With us it is made impossible by an iron chain of
succession of which each link is forged by the grace
of God.
EMPEROR
For that, Sire—one must have faith. We others
have attained power by our own efforts.
king {emphatically)
We need efforts no less than you l We have had
to build the road which God has shown us—with
much labour and often in great discouragement,
EMPEROR
But, Sire, in Germany your sublime faith in the
grace of God seems a kind of guarantee for your
Crowns.
KINO
*
Guarantee? I’ve been banished myself 1
[ 2 34 ]-
ACT III
UNION
EMPEROR
Only for a short time. And, if fortune had
favoured me to-day, no one would have touched your
Crown in Berlin to-morrow.
KING
No, thank God, that wouldn’t be the Prussian way.
Even while in exile at Tilsit my Father remained
the beloved leader of his people.
EMPEROR
I, on the other hand—will be swept away to¬
morrow by the waves of Paris 1 So I think monarchy
by the grace of God is a better instrument even than
my plebiscite.
king (seriously)
It is no political instrument 1 It is but the sign
that for centuries the same Families ( emphasizing )
have ruled over the same subjects.
emperor C reflectively )
We, however, Sire, consider ourselves a step in
advance, since we began to treat our People not as
chattels, but as free citizens for whom we gather
laurels.
king ( bitterly )
It is a pity, Sire, that in France you are always in
pursuit of glory.
emperor
Is it contemptible ? Can there be a nobler impulse
in the life of a nation ?
king (with rising emotion , almost accusingly)
A dangerous impulse I Such a State, lacking the
i 235 ]
UNION ACT III
deep roots of a well established ruler, is always
demanding new holocausts 1
emperor [clearly and confidently)
And yet France has never lacked sons who have
been willing and eager to cast themselves into the
fire—only for the glory of it! Even yesterday—you
said it yourself—my section of the Army fought
heroically against the whole might of Germany!
king [roused)
You are wrong, Sire!
emperor [taken aback)
What then-?
. king [forcibly)
You were only fighting against my son’s Army.
emperor [taken aback)
And Friedrich Karl ? Where then was Friedrich
Karl?
king [rises)
With seven Army Corps before Metz, your
Majesty!
emperor [sinks into a chair)
Terrible! Now—at last—I am stricken 1 (King
beckons towards the garden; the Generals hasten to the
emperor’s assistance . They support him while he
halfi raises himself as the kino holds out his hand.) I—
thank you for your visit, Sire! [King bows and exit.
WIMPFFEN
What gave you such a shock, Sire ?
C 336 1-
ACT III
UNION
emperor (in a heart seizure, spasmodically)
Bazaine—is surrounded in Metz by seven Army
Corps! I have lost the battle—and the Throne
against—a handful of troops! Ask—the King to
allow me to send a cipher telegram—home. I want
—to cry out—one word to Paris—Revenge!
[ *37 )
ACT IV
Paris: \th September
Scene I —Staircase in the Palais Bourbon.
A great staircase lighted by a glass roof fills the whole
centre of the stage. Above is a pillared gallery.
In front below R. and L. doors leading outside.
Above, L. and centre, doors into the Chamber.
During the whole scene people come and go. At
the doors are soldiers with fined bayonets. At a
window above R. an old General stands staring
immovably into the street.
first soldier {below, meets the second on sentry go and
whispers, motioning towards the General)
He keeps on standing there—staring into the
street instead of giving orders.
SECOND SOLDIER
Oh! He’ll soon be finished—he and his orders
too!
FIRST SOLDIER
You’d better take care how you speak like that.
We have to obey orders. What about your Oath of
Allegiance and all that ? Shut up 1
SECOND SOLDIER (aloud)
You should get into a balloon and sail away to
your Imperial Master in the Prussian fortress, so
that he may have someone else to play at soldiers
with!
C 238 ]
ACT IV
UNION
FIRST SOLDIER
Don’t squeal so loud, you idiot! If they put you
up against the wall for mutiny and I am in the firing
party, you won’t like it if I have to shoot a hole in
you!
second soldier (barring the door R. with his rifle)
Halt! Who goes there ?
[In the doorway is picard, and behind him
some ill-clad persons who try to push
their way in.
PICARD
Picard, deputy. My pass. Who’s speaking in
there?
SECOND SOLDIER
M. Favre, I think.
PICARD
My friends will wish to hear that. Come in!
SECOND SOLDIER
Halt 1 What do you want ?
PICARD
They want to go into the public gallery. My
cousin, my uncle, my partner, my-
SECOND SOLDIER
That won’t do. You can only admit one person.
PICARD
Ah 1 but one’s family is different.
SECOND SOLDIER
Where is that stated ?
C a 39 ]
UNION
ACT IV
picard (standing his ground)
Man! Don’t you know your Regulations ?
SECOND SOLDIER
Don’t be so familiar, Monsieur!
picard (laughs and embraces him )
Pax, old friend! You are right and I am right.
So it is in these times. Everybody is right! There¬
fore let these worthy citizens attend in all decency
and order a sitting which is of such importance.
(The Soldier shrugs his shoulders and leaves the door
free.) All right! Come on then, my friends.
[He leads them upstairs—the people finger
the fine railings inquisitively and dis¬
appear above into the Chamber with
him.
first soldier (i below , while this is going on)
You’re mad. They are Communists, these people,
and who knows what they are plotting to-day r
SECOND SOLDIER
A few poor wretches! How miserably thin they
are. They ll not make a revolution.
first soldier (at the door L.)
Halt! Who goes there ?
arago (old, jovial,, and rather theatrical)
Don’t you know me, sonny? I am the Nestor of
this House?
FIRST SOLDIER
Of course I know you, M. Arago. But you are
not the Quaestor of the House.
[ HO ].
ACT IV
UNION
arago ( laughing )
God forbid I should hold such an office 1 (Aside.)
Particularly to-day 1 I am the oldest member and am
bringing a few friends into the gallery.
FIRST SOLDIER
No one can pass here.
arago (suddenly angry)
What are you thinking about? You saucebox,
will you prevent old Arago bringing his guests in ?
FIRST SOLDIER
That I will. Get back!
arago (very loudly)
Provocation! You see! The military are at it
again! As always! (The middle doors above open ,
and from the Chamber , of which one gets a glimpse, a
number of Deputies enter the Hall above. Calls up.)
Messieurs, look here! The armed power is pro¬
voking the people! I protest!
\Callsfrom above : “ Let them in ! ”
FIRST SOLDIER
The sitting is over. Do what you will.
[Arago takes his friends into the House.
Favre and gambetta, with several
other Deputies, come down the stairs dis¬
puting vigorously. They stand against
the railings and a semicircle forms round
them. Favre, an oldish , thin, rather
pedantic person ; gambetta, still young,
meridional, volatile, and very rhetorical
[ 241 ] *
UNION
ACT IV
GAMBETTA
I tell you again, Jules Favre, there is no de facto
authority 1
FAVRE
What are you saying, M. Gambetta! Merely
because the Emperor is—absent! Are we not here ?
Is Parliament not assembled ? Has the Senate ceased
to exist in France ?
GAMBETTA
Where is it, then ? These gentlemen know very
well why they’re keeping out of sight just now!
And only our Left is assembled here.
FAVRE
For that very reason we must constitute ourselves
legally. That can’t be done in an hour. Time presses,
and Paris may get out of hand. So we must at once
make sure of the troops. We must have a General I
FIRST DEPUTY
There’s Caussade, who is in command here 1
SECOND DEPUTY
Where is the Minister of War ?
FIRST DEPUTY
Invisible. His only son has been killed before
Metz.
SECOND DEPUTY
A good excuse!
FIRST DEPUTY
What a brute you are!
C 242 ]
ACT IV
UNION
SECOND DEPUTY
Where is Thiers? Thiers must be fetched!
VOICES
Yes 1 Yes! Thiers is the man of the hour!
favre ( disquieted)
Why Thiers ? What we want is a General.
GAMBETTA
For ten years you have been fighting the Dictator¬
ship and insisting on the supremacy of the Civil over
the Military power—and now in the first moment of
freedom you’re all screaming for a Generali
FAVRE
He will obey us, not we him!
GAMBETTA
Well, it would be the first tim e that's ever happened!
Besides Caussade has been off his head since yester¬
day!
FAVRE
That’s why I have asked Trochu to come here!
FIRST DEPUTY
Trochu ?
SECOND DEPUTY
He’s much too Imperialist to accept the Republic!
favre ( vehemently )
Hush 1 (A silence.) We still have, for the moment,
an Empress who is legally Regent. So far we have no
Republic here ! Trochu is the only man we can trust
to-day. The Court has kept him down.
C H3 1
UNION
ACT IV
SECOND DEPUTY
But Trochu is with the Empress.
FIRST DEPUTY
That doesn’t matter; they hate each other!
gambetta {taking favre aside, in a lower tone)
I don’t understand you at all, cher maitre. Surely
you see how everything is collapsing here!
FAVRE
Be careful that our political friends don’t hear us.
We must take care not to overreach ourselves.
gambetta
But if we don’t hurry the Radicals will get ahead
of us! Didn’t you hear Arago ranting about “ pro¬
vocation ” ? Is it for this that you fought the Empire
and let them banish you ? The rabble have overrun
the Chamber. Picard knows very well why he wasn’t
at the sitting.
FAVRE
Don’t go too fast.
gambetta {decisively)
I know what to do.
\Hurries out below R. The group of Deputies
below has moved to the big window . The
scene becomes more lively.
FIRST DEPUTY
Look! The National Guard is pressing against
the pillars of the bridge.
SECOND DEPUTY
That comes of arming the people.
C 244 ]
ACT IV
UNION
THIRD DEPUTY
Who armed them ? Favre 1
favre (coming up)
I brought in that measure when the first bad news
came. I beg to remind you it was directed against
the Prussians 1
FIRST DEPUTY
I warned you in Committed Class hatred is
always stronger than patriotism!
FAVRE
That’s not true! If they had armed the people in
’15-
FIRST DEPUTY
Nonsense 1 Look out of the window and you’ll
see the consequences!
favre (more and more nervously)
Gently, gently, messieurs! For the moment I see
nothing.
SECOND DEPUTY
You wait, and in ten minutes you’ll hear something.
They are still behind the Guards in the Place
Venddme.
THIRD DEPUTY
All this comes of your free election of officers!
The old ones resigned, and now the battalions of
citizens who have any property to lose are leaderless.
SEVERAL VOICES
Look! look! they are already making signs to us 1
C *4 S 1
UNION
ACT IF
favre ( disquieted)
No panic, Messieurs! How many do you suppose
they are ?
first deputy (enjoying his discomfiture)
A hundred thousand bayonets, M. Favre 1 All
proletarians! One of them’ll run you through;
depend upon it! (They remain at the window gesticu¬
lating and disputing. An Officer hastens in below much
excited and goes upstairs to the old General standing at
the window R.) You see. We’re already betrayed!
SECOND DEPUTY
Hush! We’re being protected!
officer (above)
May I have your orders, General, please.
GENERAL (dully)
What orders ?
officer
The mob are crowding on to the Quai d’Orsay.
The people are coming in from the faubourgs.
They’re all laughing and rejoicing, shouting the War
is over 1 King Wilhelm only wanted the Emperor-
GENERAL
The Emperor is captured. All is over. Make
your shameful peace by yourselves l
OFFICER
It’s urgent, General! If we don’t shoot and the
crowd presses we must retreat 1
GENERAL
Weren’t you on the General Staff?
[ ]
ACT IV
UNION
OFFICER
I was, sir.
GENERAL
Then tell me, how could Ducrot at Sedan abandon
the sortie against Illy ?
OFFICER
I—-don’t know the map well enough to say. Do
you order us to shoot, General ?
GENERAL
The Empress has forbidden all bloodshed.
OFFICER
Then the troops must at once allow the National
Guard across the Font Royal.
GENERAL
Do what you think best. I have nothing more to
do with this world. My world came to an end
yesterday.
OFFICER
Very good, General.
[Hastens out again. The General follow
him slowly downstairs.
FIRST DEPUTY
What’s going to happen, General ?
GENERAL
Let me pass. I have nothing more to do here.
[Exit below L.
C *47 ]
UNION ACT IV
gambetta (has again entered below R., breathlessly , but
rhetorically , to the group)
Fellow citizens! The faubourgs are depopulated 1
The crowd is surging along the Rue de Rivoli to the
Place de la Concorde! Impossible to resist them!
There is only one thing to do. Get the National
Guard across the bridge to protect Parliament!
VOICES
Our lives would be in danger! They are armed!
OTHERS
On the contrary, they will save us.
first deputy {points outside)
Look, they’ve all got k£pis!
SECOND DEPUTY
Kdpis are not arms, Monsieur!
FIRST DEPUTY
No doubt they have them concealed about them
somewhere.
gambetta (on the second step of the stairs)
Fellow citizens! Here you can see it in quite
small print in this morning’s Siicle: “ Rendezvous
of the National Guard at 2 o’clock Palais Bourbon! ”
FIRST DEPUTY
There’s nothing in that!
GAMBETTA
It’s a quarter to! Shall we now proclaim the
Republic or-
C *48 ']
ACT IV
UNION
ALL
Nol No I Don’t be precipitate! We are pro¬
ceeding constitutionally!
gambetta ( looking round)
As you will, Messieurs! ( Takes a young man aside
to a corner of the staircase in front Z,., where they remain
isolated. Half aloud, very quickly .) My young friend,
would you like to earn a principal clerkship ? It is quite
easy. Only write what I’m dictating and make as
many copies as you can in the next ten minutes. The
copying press is upstairs in the writing-room. Here
is paper. ( With deep feeling , but in restrained , hurried
tones , while the writer , looking up every now and then ,
at first hesitatingly , but afterwards mechanically , takes it
down.) Heading—Rdpublique Fran^aise, Ministry
of the Interior. To all Prefects, Generals, and
Telegraph officials in France. The Corps Ldgislatif
has declared the Dynasty deposed. The Republic—
Have you got that?—the Republic has been pro¬
claimed. The list of the new Ministry follows in the
afternoon. Signature: The Minister of the Interior,
Lion Gambetta. Paris, September 4, 1.50 p.m.
No questions, Monsieur. Say nothing to anyone.
Copy it quickly! Then telegraph it to all the capitals.
To-morrow you’ll get your place.
[He hurries off again while the young man
runs upstairs; drums are heard outside.
FIRST DEPUTY
Well, M. Favre. Do you hear it now?
FAVRE
Trochu! Where is Trochu ?
C 2 49
UNION
ACT IV
FIRST DEPUTY
Where is Thiers ?
SECOND DEPUTY
He’s bolted!
THIRD DEPUTY
No. He can’t get through. [More movement,
VOICES
Look! Listen! The soldiers are withdrawing.
The mob is overjoyed. Look how they’re laughing 1
FAVRE
Incredible! Only yesterday evening the Minister
of War told me he had 40,000 men to suppress any
revolt.
first deputy ( cuttingly )
Where are they then ?
SECOND DEPUTY
Probably in Strasbourg, eating horseflesh.
THIRD DEPUTY
Look! That’s old Arago standing on the carriage.
He’s addressing the crowd!
FAVRE
He always does thatl He’s been in three Revolu¬
tions already! [Thiers has entered L,
VOICES
Here’s Thiers! Where have you been? Thiers
was against the war! Speech, Thiers 1
thiers ( confident , thoughtful, but smiling )
With pleasure, Messieurs! But, not here I think 1
C 250 •]
ACT IV
UNION
FIRST DEPUTY
The sitting is interrupted.
THIERS
Then we must resume at once. We mustn’t lose
this precious hour. In fact, we haven’t got one hour
to spare before we shall be stopped.
favre ( pointedly)
Can’t you offer any new ideas, my dear colleague ?
I’m always saying this.
THIERS
I come from the Empress. ( Sensation .) As the
Throne is deserted and the Prince Imperial is abroad,
her only course is to surrender the Regency to the
Corps Ligislatif.
SEVERAL VOICES
Quite right!
FAVRE
That would be deposition pure and simple.
VOICES
Hush. Let Thiers speak!
THIERS
A Committee must at once be appointed to form
a Government of National Defence.
FAVRE
We’re a long way from the question of defence.
The question is, what is the best form of Democracy?
Confronted with the desertion of the Throne-
C ]
UNION
ACT IV
FIRST DEPUTY
You said all that at the sitting 1
SECOND DEPUTY
Let Thiers speak 1
THIERS
This is no time to dispute about forms I (Raising
his voice .) Messieurs! The enemy is only six days’
march from Paris. ( Great sensation .) What we’ve
got to do is to provision the city and surround Paris
with fortifications.
VOICES
Thiers has been vainly recommending that for
years.
THIERS
Will anyone volunteer for work on the forts?
(A painful silence.) Then I have nothing more to do
here. I’m—going to volunteer. [Exit.
favre (rushing up the steps)
That doesn’t frighten us! We will work with our
heads 1 We will stamp our foot and a new Army will
spring up from the pavements of Paris!
VOICES
Good! We’ll make a new Army!
FAVRE
Let us set up a Committee! The sitting is resumed 1
[All are hastening upstairs to the Chamber
when heavy sticks are heard beating
on the doors below. All stand shocked on
the steps, and at the same time are heard
C 252 i
ACT IF UNION
shouts from without: “ Open! Turn out
the Emperor ! Republic l ”
deputies (to the Soldiers)
Why did you let them in ? Who opened the doors ?
FIRST SOLDIER
The railings are giving way, and the doors were
opened from inside.
DEPUTIES
There you are! That was the radicals! Now it is
too late.
[They hasten upstairs , take up their position
by the pillars , and look down. Led by
arago and picard a mob of people with
and without kepis , force their way in
through both doors below simultaneously .
At the same time those already let in
appear above.
arago (with a kepi , makes his way to the stairs)
Frenchmen 1 The People have anticipated the
hesitating Chamber 1 In order to save our country
which is in danger they have proclaimed the Republic.
The Emperor has run away, so we’ll have no more
of him and his clan 1 (Stormy cries inside andfrom the
street.) The Republic is proclaimed! The Revolu¬
tion has passed off without a blow! Fellow citizens,
no violence! Let us show that we are Frenchmen.
[More shouting.
oambetta (has pressed through the crowd and stands
near arago on the steps)
Fellow citizens!
C *53 3
UNION
ACT IV
voices (from below)
Down with that Democrat! We will not hear him 1
Traitor 1
gambetta (with the voice of a lion )
Fellow citizens! Do you think you are the only
Republicans in France ? Did not our fathers storm
the Bastille? We were before you! The Republic
was proclaimed to the whole country an hour ago!
(Sensation. He scatters a sheaf of papers among the
crowd , who eagerly snatch at them.) While I am speak¬
ing here, this proclamation is being read at Marseilles,
at Toul, at Bordeaux. Louis Bonaparte and his house
have for ever ceased to rule in France! (A storm of
applause .) We are setting up a Cabinet of National
Defence. (Applause) They have offered me the
Ministry of the Interior! (Laughter.) In view of
your applause I have decided to take itl (Laughter)
The Dictatorship of the Empire is overl Vive la
Liberte l
[A storm of shouting. The Marseillaise is
struck up again below. At the same
time there is a movement at the door L.
Amid tumultuous greetings enter roche-
fort. He has a. fantastic beard , a fiery
countenance , and a red sash.
VOICES
Rochefort! Rochefort is out of prison. Speechl
Rochefort!
rochefort (below, in a loud, petulant voice)
I see this stage is occupied by a Democrat 1
l 2^4 •]
ACT IF
UNION
gambetta (hastens nimbly to his side)
No more disputes! Let us all hold together!
Come! [ Makes as if to lead him upstairs.
ROCHEFORT
Get out, M. Gambetta! You have been insulting
and betraying us for the last ten years! We won’t
have anything to do with you\ Your M. Thiers is
the panegyrist of the first Napoleon and made his
bow to the third on the very day before the war, while
we were rotting in jail! (On the steps , between the
outbursts of shouting .) The Emperor has accepted the
hospitality of the King of Prussia! Now the people
whose blood had to be shed for him are taking things
in hand. Five la Commune ! [Storms of shouting.
favre (from above)
You by yourselves are not the People! You are
only one class! You wish to abolish property 1 You
have turned against us the weapons we gave you to
fight the Germans! You wish to use the national
misfortune for your own class interests. But we mean
to summon a Constituent Assembly!
rochefort (places himself opposite favre in a threaten¬
ing attitude on the stairs , calling upwards)
To the devil with your Constituent Assembly 1
That wretched old bag of tricks! The Chamber is at
an end! (To the crowd.) Yesterday in this honour¬
able House they were discussing a plan for establish¬
ing a Bank in China 1 (Shouts of laughter.) We want
liberty and peace l
GAMBETTA
So do we! But we must fight for it! The
[ 2 SS ]
UNION ACT IV
Prussians are forty miles from Paris. Will you
surrender Paris ?
SHOUTS
Never!
GAMBETTA
We didn’t want war! We voted against war!
The Emperor wanted it, so we have deposed him!
ROCHEFORT
Where, then, are the Emperor’s advisers ? (Shouts.)
Where is the noble Due de Gramont, that preten¬
tious popinjay! Where is Leboeuf, whose very name
betrays his descent from the cow-hcuse ? We mean
to hunt them from their hiding-places so that they
may atone for their blood-guilt and go to the gallows
with the Empress and the rest of them.
[Storms of applause.
GAMBETTA
There is plenty of time for all that! There are
more urgent things to do 1 We must arm! Not an
inch of our dear Fatherland shall we surrender to the
King of Prussia. Not a stone of our fortresses shall
we give up to General Moltke! We still have friends
in Europe. ( Applause .) We shall not rest until we
have brought France’s mortal enemy—this Herr von
Bismarck—to the gallows 1 [Tumultuous acclamations.
ROCHEFORT
M. Gambetta’s phrases leave us cold! Prussia
made war only on the Emperor. No one will touch
a hair of the head of our new Republic. We refuse
to build fortifications! We will build the new
Commonwealth instead. (Cheers.) These gentlemen
up there in their smart clothes and their secure posi-
C 256- ]
ACT IF
UNION
tlons are not our brothers! Our brothers are the
German workmen and soldiers! Poor oppressed lads
like you and me 1 [ Cheers .
voices (at the door L.)
Room for General Trochul
[A lane is made and a weather-beaten General
enters. Favre, much relieved , hastens
to him.
VOICES
We want no more Generals 1
favre (soothingly)
That's nothing, General 1
trochu (looks calmly round\ and in a resounding tone)
Nothing , M. le D£put6 ? (A silence.
gam B etta (half aloud to him)
The Republic is an accomplished fact. It has been
the least bloody revolution in history. All Paris is
overjoyed. I think there’ll be illuminations to-night.
But, unless you take up the reins now with a firm
hand, there will be an aftermath of revolution, and
there’ll be chaos 1
TROCHU
And if I take command, do you regard the war as
won?
ROCHEFORT
The war is overl Go home and put on your old
civvies 1 [ Laughter.
trochu (goes straight up to him)
Monsieur 1 Whom do you think you are addressing ?
[ 257 ] s
UNION
ACT IV
ROCHEFORT
We have ceased to be afraid!
[Two groups form , surrounding the two men.
TROCHU
Then you won’t be afraid to take measures to
prevent two million people starving when the
Prussians besiege us 1
ROCHEFORT
They won’t besiege us nowl
TROCHU
That’s a mere phrase! We’ve got to face itl
[Pause. The crowd becomes quieter and
listens. A Soldier with bandaged head
forces his way forward.
SOLDIER
Listen to the General! I come from the Front!
The Germans are terrible! I am a poor mason,
74 Chauss^e d’Antin. I am one of yourselves 1
Listen to the General! The Army of the Rhine is no
more! The Germans are before Rheims. Each one
does what he is ordered! Endless columns of steel
are marching on Paris. They are rolling up on us
with their evil faces and their siege train! Fellow
citizens! Defend yourselves! The war is not over 1
We must entrench Paris!
CRIES
Entrench Paris 1
favre ( anxiously )
Do you hear the crowd? Will you accept?
[ 258 ] '
ACT IV
UNION
gambetta ( emotionally )
You alone can save France now!
TROCHU
Assure me first on three points. (A sudden silence .)
God, Family, Property.
THE DEPUTIES
We pledge ourselves 1
TROCHU
Then I will defend Paris!
rochefort {on the other side, shouts )
Have nothing to do with them! What are we
doing here? For eighty years revolutions in Paris
have been made at the Hdtel de Ville!
[The Marseillaise is struck up again.
SHOUTS
To the Hotel de Ville! To the Hotel de Ville 1
[Tumult.
Scene II— An ante-chamber in the Tuileries. The
doors are open , two Servants are seen hastening
through the room. They meet.
FIRST SERVANT
Let’s be ofFl Let’s be off!
SECOND SERVANT
You think we can still get through ?
C *59 ]
UNION
ACT IF
FIRST SERVANT
In front, through the Porte Bourbon, it is im¬
possible.
SECOND SERVANT
Come through the Louvre. I’ll break open the
door to the Egyptian Museum and there we’ll hide
behind the sphinxes. To-morrow morning, when
everything has settled down again, we can get out quite
easily into the street.
FIRST SERVANT
But if it’s kept shut to-morrow? During revolu¬
tions it’s always shut.
SECOND SERVANT
How do you know that ?
FIRST SERVANT
* 48 . Louis Philippe. I was in it as a boy.
SECOND SERVANT
Have you got anything ?
FIRST SERVANT
To eat?
SECOND SERVANT
No. (Makes a gesture of stealing) That.
FIRST SERVANT
Only a little silver. (Shows something gleaming
under his coat) And you ?
SECOND SERVANT
Bread and cheese. If I hide you behind the
sphinxes will you give me half?
[ 260 ]
ACT IV
UNION
FIRST SERVANT
Yes. But if we are shut in you’ll give me half your
cheese ?
SECOND SERVANT
Agreed. Let’s be off I
[Both exeunt R. Enter the empress with
her Lady-in-waiting R.
EMPRESS
Who was that running there ?
lady (very much frightened)
Oh! I don’t know 1 One of the servants.
empress ( masculine , resolute , and hard)
I have no doubt. They’re on the run 1 How many
do you suppose are still in the Palace ?
LADY
Oh I a dozen I’m sure.
EMPRESS
That is to say, three or four. The remaining fifty-
or how many were there of our rabble ?
Oh 1 think of yourself, your Majesty.
EMPRESS
Of ourselves , you would sayl Are you very much
frightened, my dear ?
lady ( shivering )
Oh! not in the least.
[ 261 ]
UNION
ACT IV
EMPRESS
When you begin with oh 1 you always fib.
LADY
Oh! no, your Majesty.
EMPRESS
Where is my Pompadour ?
LADY
Forgive me, I forgot—I was in such a hurry-1
EMPRESS
You’ve been forgetting everything of late, my dear.
LADY
Would your Majesty meanwhile deign to take
mine-
EMPRESS
Redl I won’t have red! Quick, fetch me the
light blue one with the silver handle.
LADY
I’ll go at once. [Exit. Enter thiers.
EMPRESS
For the second time, M. Thiers ?
thiers ( embarrassed)
It—was no longer very easy to get through!
EMPRESS
What do you want me to do now?
THIERS
Resign the Regency at once into the hands of the
[ 262 ]
ACT IV
UNION
Committee. Perhaps you may still have time for that.
If the mob takes your power from you it is all up
with the succession 1
EMPRESS
Who says so ?
THIERS
I know it! If you take the initiative perhaps—
later —your son may be elected by a plebiscite.
EMPRESS
Do you wish that ?
THIERS
I am here only in order to advise an Empress of
the House of Bonaparte.
empress (coming nearer , warmly )
You seriously think that, in spite of all, my son—
my son. {Bursts suddenly into tears.) I don’t know
whether he’s alive or dead 1
THIERS
He was not under fire. He is alive. Be quick!
empress {combative again )
Why not a Regency under my Presidency ?
Too late.
THIERS
EMPRESS
A Military Dictatorship ?
THIERS
Trochu is in
power.
C ]
UNION
ACT IV
EMPRESS
Trochu? Then we’re lost! He will revenge
himself. I’ve often hurt his feelings.
THIERS
A Frenchman doesn’t revenge himself on a lady.
EMPRESS
You think that in this way my son might—? Very
well. Draw up the order.
thiers ( smiles)
The “ order ”?
EMPRESS
Very well then, my decision!
THIERS
Where can I find writing materials ? ( While he is
searching enter trochu. In a whisper.) Is it pro¬
claimed? (Trochu nods.) Then—it’s too late.
EMPRESS
Won’t you take me prisoner, General. I’m not a
coward—I was born a Spaniard!
TROCHU
I come to advise you to fly at once.
EMPRESS
Is the Emperor—dethroned? (Trochu nods.)
And with him the Dynasty? (Trochu nods. A
pause.) Then my son has nothing more to losel
THIERS
Only you have anything more to lose.
[ 264 ]
ACT IF
UNION
EMPRESS
Then I won’t fly! I accept our dethronement.
That may save bloodshed, but I will never desert.
TROCHU
Your personal safety is threatened.
empress ( -passionately )
Then they can do with me as they did with Marie
Antoinette—or with any others of the women who
have had the misfortune to reign over the most un¬
grateful of all peoples 1
THIERS
Fly, your Majesty 1
EMPRESS
And where should I fly to ?
THIERS
To your home.
EMPRESS
In the middle of the Revolution? Besides, my
home is France.
TROCHU
There is revolution here, too.
lady ( returning )
The blue Pompadour, your Majesty.
EMPRESS
Take it awayl [Enter count nigra in haste.
NIGRA
Fly, your Majesty. I could scarcely get through
the Guards with my papers. Fly 1 They are here 1
C *65 3
UNION
ACT IV
EMPRESS
Ah! France! You won’t allow your citizens to
be unfortunate!
thiers (jpolite but ironical)
Only those whose good fortune has lasted long.
EMPRESS
Are my Guards still loyal, General ?
TROCHU
As long as I bid them to be.
EMPRESS
Can you go on doing that without shooting ?
TROCHU
No.
EMPRESS
But I’ll have no Civil War!
nigra (business-like)
Have you—your pearls on ?
EMPRESS
Here they are.
NIGRA
No. No, the big ones.
EMPRESS
Wait!
[Exit R. The Lady follows. The Three
Gentlemen wait. Pause.
THIERS
Pardon me, Count Nigra. Could you tell me why
[ 266 ] •
ACT IV UNION
the Italian Corps didn’t come in on our side as
arranged?
nigra (loftily)
No, M. Thiers. That I cannot tell you. (To
Trochu.) Could you tell me, however, General,
how it came about that MacMahon so rashly allowed
himself to be shut up in Sedan ?
TROCHU
He was counting on the Italian Corps, your
Excellency!
nigra (smiling)
Well, gentlemen, if we are to blame for the mis¬
fortunes of France it only remains for me to rescue
your Empress.
empress (returning with the Lady)
I have them.
NIGRA
Quick.
EMPRESS
To your Embassy ?
Impossible.
Where then ?
NIGRA
empress (startled)
THIERS
To the Emperor ?
empress (sharply)
So that I may have to beg Herr von Bismarck to
give me a pass ?
C *«7 ]
UNION
ACT IV
NIGRA
My dentist is American. He will conceal you.
Then to Havre and so across the Channel.
empress (passionately)
Ah, must I really go the same way as the Orleans ?
THIERS
The same way that Louis Philippe and his Queen
went to make room for you 1
EMPRESS
Will you look after this trembling creature ?
(Trochu nods.) Then here is the key of my s6cr6-
taire. In the inmost pigeon-hole on the left is a
miniature of the Prince Imperial. Let me have it
later through the Italians.
LADY
I will look for it-
empress ( impatiently )
You must find it, my dear.
NIGRA
A longer cloak, your Majesty 1
empress
I am not cold.
NIGRA
But if you are recognized ?
empress ( untameably )
Hasn't Paris rejoiced to recognize me ? Did / lose
the Battle of Sedan? I will not disguise myself 1
[ 268 ]
ACT IV
UNION
Let Paris see its ingratitude with its own eyes—that
I am alive only because of the kindness of a foreigner l
—Your arm, Count Nigra! [Exeunt both in haste.
Come.
trochu {to the Lady)
LADY
But the miniature-
TROCHU
To the devil with it! For God’s sake, cornel
[j Exeunt both in haste.
thiers (looks contemplatively around him )
In history everything repeats itself.
C 269 ]
ACT V
Versailles
Scene I— Bismarck’s Room
November. A villa in the French taste , simply furnished.
R., a chimney-piece with clocks writing-table L.
It is evening. Lamps. At the writing-table
bismarck in uniform, near him count bray, the
Bavarian Minister, in civilian clothes. He is
tall, with thin whiskers, and has the countenance
of a diplomatist of the old school.
bismarck ( polite, repressing a grumble)
Then you still don’t see your way to decide ?
bray ( lukewarmly )
We are awaiting the decision of our most gracious
Master.
bismarck
Why doesn’t King Ludwig come to Headquarters ?
With a chivalrous ruler like him we should come to
terms in an hour. Most of the German Princes are
here, why not the second greatest ?
bray {smiling)
Perhaps because, where he is, he is accustomed to
be the greatest.
BISMARCK
Hm! I’m sorry that I can’t in a single instant
multiply Bavaria’s greatness by six.
C 270 ]
ACT V
UNION
BRAY
Moreover, we could scarcely—manage to house
him suitably here in accordance with his fastidious
taste.
BISMARCK
Can there be a more stately or romantic bedroom
than the Green State Chamber in which the Rot Soldi
loved to sleep ?
BRAY
Ca depend. But in any case—previously—we
should have to raise certain points of difference which
might irritate my Royal Master’s nerves. First of all
there are the rank badges which in Prussia are worn
on the epaulettes, but which in Bavaria must be kept
—as they are—on the collar.
BISMARCK
Does Bavaria’s heart hang on a collar? I’ll get
that through all right. Only let us have one Army
under one oath -
BRAY
The oath of allegiance must of course be in the
name of the King of Bavaria.
BISMARCK
Each man to his own Prince? Are the German
recruits to be praying to twenty-four different gods ?
Then each Prince might as well be allowed to send
his own Minister.
BRAY
That — frankly — would also be one of our
conditions.
C 2 7 l ]
UNION
ACT V
BISMARCK
Hm! Could you be so kind as to tell me, then,
in what would consist the unity of the Reich which it
is our intention to found here ?
BRAY
In the common Presidency—under the Imperial
Title—which, of course, would have to alternate in
some way between Prussia and Bavaria.
BISMARCK
Alternate? In that case I should advise you to
take over the burden of the responsibility alone, and,
in accordance with your old secret plans, unite all
South Germany under the Crown of Bavaria I (Rises
angrily.') Your Excellency, the negotiations are
broken off. Tell the King that we have come to an
agreement with all the other countries, and that we
will conclude without Bavaria.
BRAY
Such unanimity surprises me all the more as the
Army has been lying inactive here for weeks before
Paris without any success, and the impression you are
making on Europe is disquieting.
BISMARCK
Absurd!
BRAY
Eh bien ! But M. Thiers, through his agents in
Baden, is engineering a democratic conspiracy against
Prussia, I am told, with growing success.
bismarck (aside)
C 272 ]
Rubbish 1
ACT V
UNION
bray (in French)
Pardon, Excellence ?
bismarck (not rudely, but in quite a friendly tone)
I was speaking German, and I said rubbish!
bray (smiling)
Oh well, you’ll soon be learning French in Prussia
in order to govern your new subjects in Lorraine.
BISMARCK
We’re not going to have any foreigners in our
house.
BRAY
But won’t you have to have some in the big,
communal Imperial House of your dreams?
bismarck (at first-polite, then suddenly raising his voice,
and finally thundering )
I beg your Excellency’s pardon—I am too much
beset by opponents of foreign nationality. Whether
I shall for long have to reckon you among my German
opponents you will know better in Munich than we
before Paris. I warn Bavaria! If your so-called
patriots, who, at the outbreak of this war, shouted for
neutrality, should this time also go their own way,
then we shall, with thanks for your assistance, keep
you separate with the united strength of Germany
until you are deaf, dumb, and blind.
(Enter roon. Exit bray with a stiff salute
to both.
R0 ON
I could hear you outside! Whatever is the
matter?
C 273 ]
T
UNION ACT V
Bismarck {goes angrily to the writing-table , where he
throws the papers about )
An arrogant lot, these Bavarians! They’re up to
mischief with Stuttgart and Carlsruhe, and conspiring
with Vienna and all the enemies of Germany!
ROON
I think you sent Delbriick to King Ludwig ?
BISMARCK
Yes, they argued for three hours about Papal
Infallibility!
ROON
The Wiirttembergers have also taken their de¬
parture.
BISMARCK
Adieu ! Bon voyage ! The Bavarians are setting
them all on me. Did you look at that Count’s face ?
It was like herring and eggs!
ROON
These culinary comparisons!
BISMARCK (growls)
Well, anyhow, I won’t insult our good Pomeranian
smoked goose by comparing it with Count Bray 1
ROON
You gave us another splendid dinner last night.
BISMARCK
At the King’s I always get up hungry. When I
see that the number of the cutlets is the same as that
of the guests I don’t feel equal to preparing a decent
peace.
C 274 ]
ACT V
UNION
ROON
Where did you get those wonderful pheasants?
BISMARCK
You can’t get them, my dear Roon, by merely
rapping a tuning-fork on the table.
ROON
But the King has forbidden all shooting?
BISMARCK
Shooting? Have you never heard of self-defence ?
On Friday morning I was riding past the ponds in
the covert beyond the Park, thinking of nothing in
particular, when I was suddenly attacked by three
gigantic pheasants! Happily I had my gun with me.
What could a man do but defend himself?—I ride
very badly, I may tell you, for I have the gout.
ROON
An insurance for the next twenty years.
BISMARCK
Go along with you! I used to master every horse
and every difficulty. {Bitterly.) That seems gradu¬
ally to be going from me.
[&7s down by roon on the sofa , where they
both gaze in front of them as they talk.
ROON
Now / wake up at night at all hours; it is so horribly
quiet. There lie our 400 fine roarers like young
maidens in their beautiful positions—and all silent, so
that we may bring them home after the wedding in a
state of complete virginity.
C a 7 5 3
UNION
ACT V
BISMARCK
What’s the use of your being War Minister if you
can’t get the bombardment authorized ?
ROON
You know the influences!
BISMARCK
Moltke too has ceased to be frank. He avoids me
and keeps the most important things from me.
ROOM
Yesterday morning, during the sortie, I was
watching from the water-tower, and I saw how the
gallant WUrttembergers were held in check and didn’t
dare to unlimber the big piece which would have
settled the whole thing in ten minutes.
bismarck ( annoyed)
You wait till we get home! You see if I get
another set of Army Estimates through the Talking
Shop for you! What a Staff! They’re imperially
mad; victory has gone to their crowns 1
ROON
Ay, of course, the Crown! Everyone wants to
keep in with the Crown Prince, and he is being
bombarded by London through Berlin with prayers
to spare “ the centre of Civilization ” 1
BISMARCK
There they go, that English lot, sobbing at our
expense and thinking—well, nothing can happen to
us; thank God! we’re afloat I
t *76 ]
ACT V
UNION
ROON
In the highest circles to starve is considered a nicer
death than to be shot.
BISMARCK
It’s scandalous! In two months you haven’t
gained an inch. Cholera may come as in ’66. Then
England will wriggle in with one of her cursed inter¬
ventions and gracefully relieve us of the fruits of
victory at the Conference! Always these women!
First of all, our peace-loving Queen, who lately swore
at Potsdam that, so long as she lived, Paris should not
be bombarded. Then the Englishwomen: the Crown
Princess, Blumenthal’s, Moltke’s, Gottberg’s wives.
The King’s aide-de-camp is putting it about in Berlin
that there are only two people who want to bombard
Paris—I, because I am embittered against the General
Staff, and Roon, because he’s suffering from softening
of the brain!
ROON
Yesterday I got one of those democratic pam¬
phlets. It dripped so with humanity you had to hold
a glass under it 1
BISMARCK
One thousand five hundred carts with provisions
for Paris are hampering the movements of our own
supplies, all in order that immediate assistance can be
given when the place falls 1 I am a Christian myself,
but I think bacon for the Parisians should come after
bacon for our own people!
ROON
And the Crown Prince ?
C *77 ]
UNION
ACT V
BISMARCK
A nice enough pie, but too much Democratic
sauce. He’s busy with the new Imperial Arms.
(Rises, and in a lower tone.) What I most fear about
all this Empire planning is this glittering Court
business on the Versailles pattern. Simplicity made
Prussia great. If only the new scheme doesn’t put
an end to that! [ Enter keudell, hurriedly.
KEUDELL
Your Excellency, a negotiator has come.
bismarck (with a change of tone)
This is sudden! How did he get through our lines ?
keudell (shrugging his shoulders)
A pass from the General Headquarters Staff.
BISMARCK
And they tell me nothing about it, Roon 1
ROON
Nor me either! They’re afraid I would tell you!
bismarck (furious)
Then General Moltke should make peace himself!
(Pause.) Who is it? Jules Favre again?
KEUDELL
No. This time it is M. Thiers.
BISMARCK
Thiers ? Oh well, if they’re already beginning to
send their cleverest-
ROON
[Exit.
Good evening!
E 278 3.
ACT V
UNION
BISMARCK
Thiers? Their trump card!—Show him in.
[Exit KEUDELL.
[Enter thiers. His bearing is confident and
sagacious. A formal greeting, the tone
of which quickly becomes more cordial.
BISMARCK
I am glad to make the acquaintance of the author
of the History of Napoleon. I admire your work.
THIERS
Admiration is due rather to its great subject.
BISMARCK
Certainly not! I feel more for my Fatherland
than for a foreigner of genius who trampled on it.
THIERS
That’s just what I was thinking, your Excellency,
as I crossed your threshold just now!
BISMARCK
I—have neither his genius nor his power, and
above all, I am not so unmerciful to your country
as he was to ours.
THIERS
That gives me hope.
BISMARCK
Indeed, your Excellency, we don’t want to destroy
anything.
THIERS
To take away is one way of destroying. What may
I hope ?
C «79 ]
UNION
ACT V
BISMARCK
A few weeks ago I told your colleague, M. Favre.
THIERS
Is Alsace still in question? Strasbourg is not
German.
BISMARCK
Hm— ( Pause .) Have you the keys of your
house with you?
THIERS
You are wrong, your Excellency; the house you
want to lock up-
BISMARCK
Has its keys in the Stadttor at Strasbourg? I must
have that in my pocket if I am to sleep in peace.
THIERS
Then you will make a very dangerous mistake.
The feelings of Alsace will never be German; she
will never be a comfort to you.
BISMARCK
I didn’t say she would. But we need a pledge of
security so that we shan’t have to defend ourselves
once more in three years or in ten.
THIERS
If you take territory you will excite the desire for
revenge. France is more sensitive on the point of
honour than other countries.
BISMARCK
That is an unfortunate prejudice of yours 1 I
cannot see why German honour should be less to be
[ 280 ] ,
ACT V UNION
prized than French. What in the world do you base
such a claim on ?
thiers ( cautiously )
Then you place your country’s sense of honour
first?
BISMARCK
That is not our German habit, M. Thiers. I
respect every nation’s claim to the same feeling.
THIERS
A most laudable trait in the German character—
I know it is inborn. (Frankly.) It is equally inbred
n us to see France at the head.
bismarck (looks at him—a -pause—then rises to come to
the point)
What brings you to me ?
THIERS
We wish to know your terms.
BISMARCK
To-day we are asking for Alsace and three milliards.
After the fall of Paris it might be Lorraine also and
perhaps double that sum.
thiers (rising, suddenly passionate)
Never! Ask as much money as you like, but no
Frenchman will ever surrender to you an inch of his
country!
BISMARCK
We have plenty of time, your Excellency.
[ 281 ]
UNION
ACT V
thiers ( animated , as above)
That you should ask us for that, Count 1 We who
voted against the war, who first warned, and then
deposed the Emperor and proclaimed the Republic 1
BISMARCK
I am not making peace with M. Thiers who was
so sagacious—minorities always are. I am making
peace with a people whose wayward susceptibilities
we shall always, unfortunately, have to reckon with.
thiers ( argumentatively )
Susceptible people are usually attractive. The
Rhine divides not blacks and whites, but nations who
for centuries have been exchanging their goods, their
customs, and their ideas. Why should you spoil it
all again by land grabbing ?
Bismarck ( keenly)
Had you been Minister of a victorious France,
M. Thiers, would you have hesitated to take the
left bank of the Rhine from us ?
thiers ( frankly )
Scarcely, I think.
BISMARCK
Where’s the difference ?
thiers {politely, as a matter of course)
The Rhine is Germany’s frontier, your Excellency 1
Bismarck (very civil)
Where is that laid down ?
ACT V
UNION
THIERS
In every French heart!
bismarck (shaking his head reflectively)
You are a wonderful people! ( Laughs gently.)
All my ancestors have fought against you for the last
five hundred years. And to-day, when we are lying
before your gates, victors and masters of your country
—and I’m sitting here by my lamp calculating how
much we should demand—there comes an envoy who
tells me with a smile that the Great Heart of his
People demands from me no less than a whole province!
thiers ( confidently )
Europe is watching, your Excellency!
BISMARCK
' We have no reason for fear.
THIERS
We have reason for hope. Powerful friends are
stirring outside.
BISMARCK
Do you smell the dawn because for some weeks the
daily bulletin has been “ no developments before
Paris ” ? Do not deceive yourselves. While they
have been pitying you in Vienna and London an iron
girdle has been fastened round Paris, and {emphatic¬
ally) one morning when we are ready—it will blast
you with thunder and lightning!
THIERS
If the Germans dare to bombard the Mecca of
Culture a cry will go through the whole of Europe!
C a8 3 ]
UNION
ACT V
BISMARCK
If this is Mecca I am an unbeliever. We have to
thank France for having taught us much. But we
shall end this war as soon as we can, not with polite
compliments, but with fire and sword.
THIERS
Why do you continue a war, begun by the Emperor,
against the Republic ?
BISMARCK
The same orchestra. Only the conductor is new.
THIERS
You have a reason for it. You want to restore
Napoleon.
BISMARCK
We Germans are not accustomed to prescribe
constitutions for foreign countries. Though, frankly,
I think you did your country an ill turn when you
deposed him. (Pause!) Do you wish to speak
further of our terms ?
thiers (decisively)
They are unacceptable! I'm going back to Paris.
(Makes as if to go , but returns.) As you spoke to me,
however, about doing my country a bad turn, let me
thank you for a good one. You freed us from our
Emperor. You, I understand, are on the point of
making one for yourselves, and, some day, it will be
you who will be thanking us for helping you to get
rid of him I
c *8 4 ]
ACT V
UNION
bismarck (after a deprecating pause, smiling)
As to that—I hope to continue our conversation
after, say, a century.
{Exit thiers. Enter keudell.
KEUDELL
He looked stubborn. So there was nothing in it?
BISMARCK
Obstinate people! Until we bombard, Paris will
not be ripe for peace. They will have much to
answer for on that score. Keudell, I won’t put up
with it any longer. The King must decide to-day!
KEUDELL
There’s still a bag to go through. The messenger
goes to-morrow morning.
BISMARCK
Keudell, why didn’t you see that we had a piano
with us? I must have music if I’m not to peg out
here! Only an hour in the evening. Everything is
at a dead end. Nothing succeeds. I want to relieve
this miserable existence with sweet strains—but—
come on—the bag—only the most important things 1
keudell (stands reading out while bismarck lounges on
the sofa and dictates answers)
Inquiries from various Highnesses when they can
see you.
BISMARCK
Is that important? Put a notice on the door,
“ To-day the Federal Chancellor is giving no inter¬
views,” and let it hang there for a month. (Suddenly
C 285 ]
UNION
ACT V
furious.) They should go and see the christening-
bowl of the Due de Reichstadt and calculate how much
more heavily it is gilded than the one they gave their
offspring. Next!
KEUDELL
Two articles in the Koelnische and the National
Zeitung. Napoleon is too comfortable at Cassel.
BISMARCK
What donkeys! We can’t be too kind to him!
Thiers is secretly trembling at the possibility of a
Restoration which would turn them all out again.
We must keep them guessing in Paris. It stimulates
their internal differences.
KEUDELL
Memorandum from the General Staff on the
necessity of retaining Metz.
Bismarck (springing up again)
I will not have Metz! We’ll be biting off more
than we can chew. Note, to speak to General Moltke.
KEUDELL
Inquiry from the General Staff: how does the
question stand of the rank badges in South Germany
after the foundation of the joint army?
bismarck ( beaming )
Here they are again, our beloved epaulettes—
Prussia—Bavaria—collars—shoulder-straps. A fight
to the death—even if German unity itself, at which
we have been hammering for eight years, should go to
pieces in the process. I can’t do any more. To-night
[ 286 ]
ACT V
UNION
I’ll have something to eat in my room alone. (Exit
keudell. He sits stiffly , leaning on his elbows , and
soliloquizes .) Yes, if one had power, even for five
minutes, things would be done so, and no otherwise 1
But one has to beg for every piece of dirt! If one
were only a Landgrave now! I could deal with the
trouble then 1 But I didn’t have a fine enough Papal
ORDERLY
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
[Enter crown prince, who sits down by
bismarck in the friendliest way.
CROWN PRINCE
Don’t disturb yourself. Mere curiosity. His
Majesty is also on his way. Well? Was Thiers
more amenable than Favre ?
bismarck (emphatically)
Till Paris is bombarded, nothing doing.
crown prince (evasively)
Pshaw! No Frenchman will sign for a loss of
territory. It’s as much as any of their places are
worth.
BISMARCK
Thiers is not ambitious. He is just simply a
Frenchman, and can’t understand that he has lost the
war.
crown prince (cautiously)
That might be proved to them very clearly if, on
their own soil, we were to show them who we are.
BISMARCK
Your Royal Highness means—Reich and Kaiser ?
£ 287 ]
UNION
ACT V
CROWN PRINCE
We should proclaim the Kaiser in camp in the
presence of the majority of the Princes.
BISMARCK
Majority ? A kind of Electoral procedure ?
CROWN PRINCE
The impulse must of course come from the Reich¬
stag. The Reichstag should come to Versailles.
bismarck (dryly)
Good God 1 Are we to have them on our hands too 1
I am balancing on the lightning rod. If we have to
parley with 400 of them here we shall have a pretty
Constitution! ( Emphatically .) If we don’t get this
business through by New Year, your Royal Highness,
it may be held back for a century!
CROWN PRINCE
In Berlin Delbriick has handled the whole business
much too prosaically. You would really think he
was pulling the Imperial Crown out of his trousers’
pocket, wrapped in newspaper.
BISMARCK
There was, indeed, a certain amount of newspaper.
(Coldly.) But we can’t be too prosaic about it.
• CROWN PRINCE
Do you wish this great act to be carried through
coldly, unimaginatively ?
BISMARCK
Enthusiasm in politics, your Royal Highness, is as
[ 288 ]
ACT V UNION
dangerous as revenge, retaliation, and other unpractical
ideas.
crown prince ( proudly )
On that point you should allow yourself to be
converted by the young, Count Bismarck!
bismarck ( bristling )
I used to point out the way for the young. But
if they know better than I do what is needed-
crown prince {rises, speaking more sharply)
I have been serving under you, year after year.
BISMARCK
Not longer than I have been serving the King.
CROWN PRINCE
As if you didn’t rule him 1
Alas, nol
Alas?
bismarck {with emphasis )
CROWN PRINCE
BISMARCK
Why should the King have Ministers if they are
not to advise him—and gently lead-
CROWN PRINCE
I—should perhaps take a very different line.
BISMARCK
If there were Ministers who only signed!
[ 289 ]
u
UNION
ACT V
CROWN PRINCE
A time is coming when there will be a great deal
more freedom in our country.
BISMARCK
I hope by that time, your Royal Highness will
have a people mature enough for such freedom.
AIDE-DE-CAMP
His Majesty.
KING
Well? Any developments?
[Enter the king.
Nothing.
BISMARCK
KING
Have patience. They’re coming round.
BISMARCK
We must shoot.
king ( embarrassed)
We—haven’t nearly enough heavy ammunition
yet.
BISMARCK
Roon says we have.
KING
Moltke is against it too.
BISMARCK
I am responsible for the peace, your Majesty, and
I can’t carry on if we’re going to starve Paris for
months. Europe is on the watch. Thiers is quite
right about that.
C 290 ]
ACT V
UNION
king ( impatiently )
After all, I’m not wholly ignorant about things.
Paris! Why, when I was a lieutenant of seventeen
I marched into Paris with the rest.
BISMARCK
If you want to reach your objective this time we
must harden our hearts and make haste.
KING
I—I hear something about an Imperial cockade?
I take it that it’ll at any rate be worn alongside the
Prussian ?
CROWN PRINCE
In all the Imperial Army ?
king ( enraged )
There is no Imperial Armyl I must forbid that
absolutely!
bismarck (gently didactic )
According to the agreements with the Southern
States, your Majesty, the Prussian Army must
merge in the Imperial Federal Army just as the King
merges in the German Emperor.
KING
Merge ! Ay, there you go again! I will never
put up with that!
CROWN PRINCE
Just as, 170 years ago, the Elector of Brandenburg
merged in the King of Prussia.
king (like any old gentleman in great irritation)
That was quite another thing! And it happened
C *91 ]
UNION
ACT V
long ago! ( Pauses , then categorically .) As King of
Prussia I am superior to my cousins. My ancestors
founded, consolidated, ana enlarged their power.
That has been my Right and my Honour for as long
as I have worn this coat! And now you come and
try to make me accept a new-fangled office like this!
A title against which the Great Frederick himself
took arms!
BISMARCK
It is only a confirmation—-just as when one has
long been acting commander of a regiment and in the
end is formally appointed Colonel.
king (furious)
And who’s going to appoint me ? I forbid such
nonsense!
CROWN PRINCE
It is the last and highest step in the upward pro¬
gress of our House!
KING
These are mere phrases! I desire no precedence
over the Kings!
BISMARCK
None is given. When Charles VI met the Kings
in a pavilion they entered simultaneously.
kino (more and more obstinate)
Well, even if it was so then, it’s for me to direct
how it shall be hereafter 1
bismarck (drily)
It won’t be, your Majesty—as we’re not going to
win.
C *9* ]
ACT V
UNION
KING
What do you mean ?
Bismarck (standing to attention)
If we are not going to shoot I must request to be
relieved of all responsibility, and that my resignation
may be immediately accepted.
king ( vehemently , divided between anger and affection)
You are not to request anything, your Excellency.
You are to stay with me—if I live to be ninety l
BISMARCK
In that case—may I protest against the irre¬
sponsible humanitarian influences which I am in¬
formed are being brought to bear from the entourage
of Her Majesty-
KING
Upon my word and honour! Here’s the Federal
Chancellor who’s now going to direct my private
correspondence as well as everything else. Good
evening! [ Exit angrily , accompanied by his son.
bismarck (standing with his back to the writing-table ,
alone y in a gloomy and depressed tone)
Nailed to the rock like Prometheus! Dependence 1
(Coolly enumerating .) No bombardment, no peace.
No peace, no Reich. No Reich, no Kaiser. The
King doesn’t want to be Kaiser. The King of Bavaria
does. So does the Crown Prince, in another way.
(Bursting out.) May the devil take Kaiser and Reich
together 1 (To keudell, who comes in at this point.)
We shall be sitting before Paris till Whitsuntide,
Keudell! Have an asparagus bed made in front of the
house!
C *93 ]
UNION ACT V
Scene II— Ante-room to the Galerie des Glaces,
lith January.
Music. Noise as of a feast. Outside are heard marching
and words of command. Clear midday sunshine.
Throughout the scene are also heard dull reports of
cannon shots at regular intervals. Glass doors
behind. In front, L., a fireplace with fire , and
before it two chairs. From behind\ through the
glass doors , enter crown prince and roon.
crown prince (in romantic exultation )
That we should live to see this day, Roon! That
we should be able to look up to heaven, our task
fulfilled, and say the goal is reached 1
roon ( reserved and quiet )
Now thank we all our God!
crown prince
Yes. I missed that hymn to-day. After the battles
—let me confess it—when that song went up to
heaven I couldn’t help feeling somewhat conscience
stricken; for they, over whose downfall we were
rejoicing, were after all God’s children too. But
to-day we have won the greatest and the most peaceful
of victories. The brothers who were always at feud
—the Germans—are united! The struggles which
have been tearing them asunder for a thousand years
are overl The roof is built which at last will shelter
us! You are reserved, General! What are your
thoughts ?
ROON
One should die to-day. What could there be after
this?
C *94 ]
ACT V
UNION
crown prince (with enthusiasm)
Life, Roon 1 Only now can the dream we dreamed
just now, there in the Galerie des Glaces, begin to
come true. To bring that about will be my life’s work.
If I come into power I will not seek to conquer.
I will only guard this New Empire, with all the
strength and patience of which I am capable, against
the dangers which threaten it. This I swore to
myself in there when they were rejoicing round the
new Kaiser, and I felt it every time he grasped the
hands of those who wished him joy.
ROON
Only one—he overlooked.
CROWN PRINCE
I noticed that. It was an irony indeed. My
Father, in his greatest hour, because of some quarrel
about forms, is aggrieved at the man who conceived
and carried out—everything.
ROON
He wouldn’t be able to go on very long without
him.
CROWN PRINCE
Do you think Bismarck will bear malice for the
affront ?
ROON
He has other things to think of.
CROWN PRINCE
I wonder what’s going on in that head to-day?
ROON
I would rather see into his heart.
C *9 5 ]
UNION
ACT V
CROWN PRINCE
Here he comes I Au revoir ! I’ll see you at dinner.
[Roon salutes and exit .
[Enter bismarck in gala uniform, pale and
very serious. He is lost in thought and
is seen approaching slowly. He does
not see the crown prince till he is on
the stage.
bismarck {slowly, in gloomy tones)
Your Royal Highness here 1 Why not with the
King ?
crown prince {cordially)
I wanted to give you the handshake which my
Father, in the excitement of the moment, forgot to
give you.
BISMARCK
Oh ? Did he forget ? I didn’t see much in there.
There were too many mirrors and too much gilding
for me.
crown prince {with fire)
An emblem of the brilliant new age 1
bismarck {significantly)
God forbid 1
CROWN PRINCE
All is rapture and rejoicing on this day of days
for which Germany has waited for centuries! And
you, who have brought it all to pass, why are you so
sad?
bismarck {holding out his hands to the fire)
I’m cold. I was nearly frozen in the Hall there.
[ 296 ]
ACT V
UNION
CROWN PRINCE
You are overwrought.
bismarck (after a pause, with renewed gloom)
I am cold because I am tired out. I think—I
should like to sleep for a month.
crown prince (pushes forward a chair, into which
bismarck/*//j)
Refresh yourself with your achievement! The
Reich is roofed in at last. The fall of Paris is only a
question of hours; we have both provinces in our
pocket. Could any people have a happier prospect?
BISMARCK
The people—may have its toys—its mirrors and
its crowns. (In a low voice.) The statesman hears
the muffled roar of dangers—still far off. But your
Royal Highness is standing. [Makes as if to rise.
CROWN PRINCE
I’m still young. And you want to be alone.
[Exit hastily.
bismarck (alone, stretching his hands to the fire)
Le roigouverne par soi-mime. During all that hour
those words of the Roi-Soleil blazed before me above
my Master’s canopy. To rule by one’s self. That
must be a fine thing 1
[Enter moltke through the glass doors,
hesitates at first, then approaches bis¬
marck.
moltke (gently)
It’s time for dinner.
C *97 ]
UNION
ACT V
Bismarck (as if awakened)
Dinner? Must I?
moltke (near his chair)
Duty. [.A pause.
BISMARCK
How are things in Paris ?
MOLTKE
At the last gasp.
BISMARCK
The last gasp inside: the first gasp outside.
Death and Birth. (A pause .) Do you think we’re
getting old, General ?
MOLTKE
We are in God’s hands.
BISMARCK
But there are days in one’s life on which one would
like to look behind the curtain. When a big thing
like this has been done—to idle or to do little things
would be mean. What is one to do here below now ?
MOLTKE
Serve.
bismarck (bounding from his chair)
I will not serve all my life! When I have no one to
fight with any more I would rather say good-bye.
If God suddenly took away all my enemies I would
pray for death.
MOLTKE
And your friends ?
[ 2 98 l
ACT V
UNION
bismarck ( bitterly)
Are there any? (Low.) He won’t take my one
and only friend from me. She, at least, is sure.
Perhaps Roon too. Perhaps. (A side glance?) Yet—
everyone for himself.
moltke (suddenly steps right in front of him , speaking
firmly but not loudly)
Learn to yield yourself, Bismarck, and others will
yield themselves to you.
bismarck ( touched , breathes heavily ; a pause , then
looking him in the face)
Were you never—my opponent ?
moltke (stretching out his hand)
Always your friend 1
bismarck (shakily)
In my old age—a new friend? (Then in more
aggressive tones.) Moltke! Are you going—at last—
to open your secretive heart to me ? (Moltke nods.)
Do you think that what we’ve established in there
will last ?
MOLTKE
For ever ?
bismarck
What is for ever ? For as long as man can foresee ?
moltke (with a gesture)
We must work and hope.
BISMARCK
Work—always 1 But hope—for what ?
[ *99 ]
UNION
ACT V
MOLTKE (slowly with a look )
For wise Princes. [A silence.
[Roon rushes in, waving a paper in wild
excitement.
ROON
I’ve been looking for you everywhere! See what
I’ve brought!
moltke (quite changed and much excited)
The white flag ?
roon ( beaming )
Thiers and Favre are at our lines! They accept
all our conditions.
moltke (bursts out, almost collapsing)
Paris fallen!
ROON
The war is over.
bismarck ( firmly, hut not sentimentally)
Germany has come! [A shot in the distance.
[ 300 ]
DISMISSAL
1890
A PLAY IN THREE ACTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Prince Bismarck ( Imperial Chancellor •).
Princess Johanna von Bismarck.
Herbert. 1 rr
Bill I ** ts sons '
Kaiser Wilhelm II.
BOtticher.
Lucanus.
Windthorst.
Hinzpeter ( formerly Preceptor to the Kaiser ).
Heyden. }
Douglas. J- Friends of the Kaiser.
Eulenburg. J
Footmen, First and Second Servants.
C 303 ]
ACT I
Berlin: The Palace.
ACT II
Sitting-room at Bismarck’s House.
ACT III
Bismarck’s Work-room.
C 304 ']
DISMISSAL
(1890)
ACT I
Berlin. The Palace ; the end of January 1890 ; a
coldly brilliant room ; many lamps ; fireplace L.
In front ', R., count douglas and hinzpeter.
Hinzpeter, an old man, in a long , old-fashioned
coat , half clergyman , half professor. Douglas,
about sixty , rather stout; speaks in a jovial Berliner
fashion.
DOUGLAS
I tell you, my dear Geheimrath, it’s coming to an
end.
HINZPETER ( piously )
Then may God’s hand be in it, Count 1
DOUGLAS
I only meant the Crown Council. What did you
think I meant?
HINZPETER
I—I was beginning to fear! Anyone with my
opportunities of seeing into our dear Master’s soul
from his earliest childhood days, knows how indelibly
his admiration for the Chancellor has been imprinted,
as with a graver, on his truly kingly mind.
DOUGLAS
But that graver, my dear Geheimrath, is getting
C 305 ] x
DISMISSAL
ACT I
a bit blunt. If one breaks one’s pen, one takes a new
one. So long as you had him under your claws he
was, of course, a docile Prince; he didn’t have a very
gay time, especially with that strict Lady Mother of
his. . . . Don’t be afraid, footmen who listen at
doors are already past praying for!
HINZPETER
Our poor dear Master did indeed grow up without
any sunshine in his life, embittered by much ill-
treatment.
DOUGLAS
In these eight months while the Old Man—over
the hills and far away—was living in his Sachsenwald,
His Majesty learned that there are other lights in the
heavens, and that even moons like you and me shine
perhaps more brightly than burnt out suns!
HINZPETER
The very wisest thing would be to enlighten him
directly on that point.
DOUGLAS
/»directly, my dear Geheimrath! Could he make
it easier for us ? Or do you think it a sign of megalo¬
mania that he feels himself to be a superman.
HINZPETER
If he does, God’s justice will punish him.
DOUGLAS
Spoken like a Christian! But there is some up-to-
date philosopher or other who, I gather, has been
drivelling about supermen.
[ 3°6 L
ACT /
DISMISSAL
HINZPETER
God has punished him by taking away his under¬
standing.
DOUGLAS
Oh! Has he gone mad ? No doubt that was why.
[They laugh.
[Enter von heyden and count eulenburg,
both middle-aged. Heyden, in artistic
neglige; eulenburg in undress uni¬
form , blue frock-coat with velvet collar
and gold buttons , his effeminate head is
from time to time thrown back in affected
enthusiasm , but he is decidedly more
cultivated than the others.
EULENBURG
May we share the joke ? Or is it at our expense ?
DOUGLAS
Not at all, my dear Count; you’re still all right in
the upper storey.
HEYDEN
That’s a nasty one for an artist like Eulenburg,
whose ballads have won him a seat on Parnassus.
Won’t you protest ?
EULENBURG
One doesn’t protest against Douglas. One asks
Douglas how Alkali mines are doing.
DOUGLAS
I have become a perfect Parsifal. Ask Heyden,
who used to be one of my mine managers. He still
speculates, I’m sure.
C 307 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT 1
EULENBURG
If artists speculate, bankers may take to painting
their better halves in the altogether.
HEYDEN
Why only their better halves ?
HINZPETER
And what are the great ones doing ?
[Points to the door.
DOUGLAS
They are brooding.
EULENBURG
I wish they would hatch 1
[They put their heads together and the con¬
versation continues in lower tones.
HINZPETER
If only His Majesty stands firm to-day, all is won!
HEYDEN
Do you believe it possible that the Prince will
countersign decrees making for the good of the
workers, whom he both hates and fears ?
eulenburg ( smiling )
Perhaps when you refer to Bismarck you would
do well to avoid the word “ fears ”1
HINZPETER (unctuously)
Who would deny that the Prince has earned the
lasting gratitude of our Fatherland! U ndoubtedly_
DOUGLAS
Undoubtedly!
[ 308 ]-
ACT I
DISMISSAL
ALL FOUR
Un-doubt-ed-ly!!
HEYDEN
But, gentlemen, he is tremendously overrated.
Such a want of understanding sympathy with the
poorl Now I, who have had opportunities of mixing
with the proletariat-
EULENBURG
You’re too fond of low life, my friend. I shall have
to tell His Majesty about you!
HEYDEN
I have told him of my recent visit to a workman’s
family. The man is a model of mine, and it was
in fact my description—His Majesty was moved
almost to tears—that decided him actually to sign
the decrees which had hung fire so long.
EULENBURG
So they arose, like Aphrodite, from a sea of tears 1
DOUGLAS
There’s a compliment for you, my good old
Samaritan! Did it smell good ?
HEYDEN
“ Humanity’s vast sorrows gripped me—” as
Schiller says.
hinzpeter (■whispering )
Goethe , Herr von Heyden.
HEYDEN ( irritated)
As you will!
douglas ( boisterously )
Goethe , my dear Heyden!
C 309 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT I
HEYDEN
Well, well! All the truer then, if it is Goethe!
“ Humanity’s vast-”
[The door opens. Enter two Footmen, then
lucanus in undress uniform like eulen-
b u rg. He is dignified neither by age nor
breeding, but is supple; he speaks
smoothly , but very precisely.
LUCANUS
Good evening, gentlemen!
ALL FOUR
Well, how are things in there ?
LUCANUS
Everything in excellent order!
EULENBURG
We were hoping for excellent disorder!
HEYDEN
Did he threaten to resign again ?
lucanus (smiling and illustrating with a gesture )
His Highness’s threatening forefinger is historic.
DOUGLAS
Blackmail then!
LUCANUS
That would be using rather a harsh expression,
Count.
DOUGLAS
Don’t split hairs, your Excellency 1 Did he or
didn’t he ?
[ 310 ]
ACT I
DISMISSAL
lucanus (still smiling)
All I know is that in a few minutes His Majesty
will close the Council, full accord having been
reached.
HINZPETER
Poor soul 1 What has he not to suffer ?
DOUGLAS
Did the Old Man speak sensibly and coherently
in spite of the gramme of morphia he takes every
night ?
HINZPETER and HEYDEN
What! How ? Are you sure ?
EULENBURG
Yes, we got to know of it through a servant at the
Imperial Chancellery, who saw the measuring glass.
LUCANUS
But a whole gramme, gentlemen 1 Which of you
would dare to swear to this gramme ?
EULENBURG
The sitting is over. Here comes Bdtticher.
[Doors open as above. Enter bStticher in
ministerial uniform ; he is in his early
fifties , has the face of an official but of
the ruddy type , wears a pince-nez; he
is cautious , not malevolent , but mean.
Speaks in muffled tones; much more the
bureaucrat than the courtier.
BbTTICHER
Good evening 1
[All except lucanus crowd round him.
.[ 3 11 ]
Botticher
[Sc// tj s Bil hr it n t
ACT 1
DISMISSAL
heyden (with insincere cordiality)
That was a chivalrous act of yours, Excellency 1
In the name of the poor permit an artist to shake you
by the hand!
hinzpeter (thinking aloud)
Could no one mediate? Perhaps Count Herbert?
eulenburg (with a gesture)
His Majesty is fed to the teeth with him 1
Douglas (with another gesture)
To the eyes you might well say, Eulenburg!
HEYDEN
Well, what’s going to be done about it now, if I
may ask you wise people ?
[Lucanus makes a subtle questioning gesture.
botticher (shrugging his shoulders)
I dare not allow myself to think of the immeasur¬
able misfortune of a break. Thank heaven His
Majesty still needs the Prince—and at once—for the
Military bills.
HEYDEN
Then the old Moor can go! What ?
THE OTHERS
“ The old Moor! ” That is priceless!
(They all laugh.
[The folding doors suddenly burst open. Alarm
and suspense of all five gentlemen. Low
bows. An Aide-de-camp announces ,
not loudly , “ His Majesty l ” then^
hurryingpasthim , enter kaiser wilhelm.
C 313 ]
Kaiser Wilhelm II
ACT 1
DISMISSAL
It’s only the Chancellor who thinks my move is
“ dangerous.” He’s still living in the days of my
ancestors of blessed memory 1 (More rhetorically .)
We moderns—who in our veins feel the pulse-beats of
a great new age—we look the future of the lower
classes in the face and say, “ We are all brothers in
Christ ” 1 That is why we wish to raise you from the
dust and to mitigate the hard lot the Norns have
sent you! Let there be light and sunshine even for
the poorest!
EULENBURG
Words of Odin, and truly Christian, your Majesty!
KAISER
No flattery, Eulenburg! (To hinzpeter.) But
you, my dear teacher, tell these gentlemen what moral
persecution I suffered in my parents’ house for no
other reason than my admiration for this Chancellor,
whom I regarded as having forged the sword of
Empire 1 Speak freely, my dear Hinzpeter!
hinzpeter (half to the others)
Often have I found His Majesty, when a boy,
bathed in tears because some harsh word about the
Chancellor had fallen from the lips of Her Majesty
the Empress-Mother.
KAISER
You hear? Does not that ring true?
ALL
Without a doubt, your Majesty!
KAISER
Instead of which he—do you know what he is
[ 315 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT I
doing ? He is trying to corner me, and in the harshest
terms openly threatens me with his resignation. (All
manifest horrified amazement?) Botticher! What did
the Prince say just now in the Crown Council ?
bStticher
His Highness remarked: “If His Majesty no
longer attaches any importance to my advice I do
not know whether I can remain at my post.”
douglas {genially)
Then all your Majesty has to do is to seize the
opportunity 1
kaiser (i reflectively )
Pshaw, Douglas! You look at it from your point
of view—as if it were a question of dismissing a mine
manager 1 But what would the country say ? What
will Clio say hereafter—the severest of the Muses ?
(Hinzpeter beams?) You agree with me, my old
Mentor 1 You understood ?
EULENBURG
After such an affront perhaps it would be best for
your Majesty to have a private heart-to-heart talk
with the Prince immediately.
kaiser {after a pause)
Bravo 1 The very thing! Is the Prince still in the
palace ?
LUCANUS
His Serene Highness can scarcely have reached the
main entrance.
L 3i6 ']
ACT I DISMISSAL
kaiser (after a short but anxious pause, during which he
bites his lips )
Ask him to come back.
LUCANUS
At your Majesty’s orders.
[Gives an order to the Footman, who hurries
away.
kaiser ( suddenly)
’Evening, gentlemen! . . . Botticher! (All, with
low bows, retire backwards and exeunt, except b6tticher.
Throwing himself into a chair.) Now or never 1
BOTTICHER
Does your Majesty really wish to face this renewed
agitation ?
kaiser (springing to his feet)
Do you think I am a coward? I believe you’re
half a “ Bismarckian ” yourself 1
bStticher
The Prince’s great services do not blind me to the
excrescences of his autocratic temper.
KAISER
“ Excrescences of his autocratic temper! ” A good
phrase! What on earth did he threaten you with
before you came to the Crown Council? You all
looked as if you had been flogged when he got up and
put me in my place. Tell me.
BbTTICHER
At the Cabinet meeting, when I advised them to
C 317 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT I
BOTTICHER
But Frederick, your Majesty, would never have
become Frederick the Great had he been confronted
at his accession by a character as strong as Bismarck’s.
kaiser (stands up and walks thoughtfully towards the
fire. After a pause , sotto voce)
Yes, Frederick was free! When one is free one
can act according to one’s own conscience, being
answerable only to God who placed us where we are".
What a burden it is! Shall I have to wait, as my
Father waited—and wait, moreover, in my case,
merely for the retirement of a Chancellor? Has he
not himself taught me to disregard Parliaments and
Ministers ? Which of us two then is by the Grace of
God . .. ? ( In the midst of the silence which follows the
doors are opened at the back, hooks up.) Wait near by,
Botticher. [ Exit botticher R.
FOOTMAN
His Serene Highness the Prince Imperial Chan¬
cellor !
[Bismarck, gigantic in his Halberstadt uni¬
form, stands in the doorway , glances
darkly at the retreating botticher, then
comes slowly and heavily towards the
kaiser and bows. He speaks slowly
with much restraint which breaks down
only once or twice in Acts II and III.
kaiser (holding out his hand, very friendly, motions the
Footman away)
I am sorry I have had to trouble you again. ( Makes
as if to draw up a second chair near the firefor the Prince.)
Please, my arms are younger.
I }
act 1 DISMISSAL
Bismarck (takes possession of the chair and lifts it to the
fire with consummate ease )
I thank your Majesty. I’m still up to that 1
kaiser (bites his lips and sits down suddenly)
Pshaw—eternal youth 1
BISMARCK (sits)
That is enjoyed only by the Gods and, now and
then, by fortunate monarchs. I have worked it out
that the average age of Princes is much higher than
that of their Ministers who die in harness.
kaiser (turning away , much hurt)
I could wish no better death than to die at work
or on the field of honour!
BISMARCK
Reality is usually less dramatic.
kaiser (disconcerted)
Everything is in God’s hands 1
BISMARCK
Nevertheless, influence may often be brought to
bear—if not on the end of our lives, at any rate on the
end of our work. A good Doctor and a loyal Prince
may sometimes avert a crisis.
KAISER
But I hope there is nothing like a— crisis, your
Serene Highness ?
BISMARCK
I thought there was, and that that was why your
Majesty has just recalled me.
C 321 ]
Y
DISMISSAL
ACT /
KAISER
I*—only wanted to ask something, I didn’t men¬
tion before, something I forgot—have you any news
from Petersburg ?
BISMARCK
Schweinitz sends excellent accounts. As soon as
Schuwalow is back the negotiations can begin.
KAISER
And so you really hope for the extension of the
treaty ?
BISMARCK
Without cover from Russia we run the gravest
risks.
KAISER
How people’s views differ nowadays! Waldersee,
for instance, demonstrates to me the inevitable
necessity of a war with Russia.
BISMARCK
All generals demonstrate that when they’re feeling
up to the mark. My plan is to avoid it by making a
friend of the Czar.
KAISER
And yet you wouldn’t agree when I wanted to visit
him this autumn.
BISMARCK
The Czar is fond of a quiet life. Many friend¬
ships are safest when conducted at a distance.
KAISER
I might perhaps have succeeded, personally, in
C 322 )
ACT I DISMISSAL
hindering the loan which has just been five times over¬
subscribed in Paris.
BISMARCK
Seven times, I understand. I can’t charm away
either the hopes of the Parisians or the impecuniosity
of the Russians, but I can prevent a combination of
the two. That was why at the Crown Council to-day
I permitted myself to warn you against the Socialist
Romantics. Only if we are armed against all internal
unrest, only if we remain an unweakened Monarchy
can we keep the Czar on our side.
KAISER
But my decrees won’t weaken the monarchical
idea.
BISMARCK
They will raise the expectations of the working
classes, who will suspect that behind such concessions
lies an uneasy conscience.
KAISER
All that is past and gone, Prince! The worker
reads in the papers what profits the companies are
making. You don’t understand the new age!
BISMARCK
I understand the old one and I know that, in all
ages, the Girondins have driven the coach of State to
the edge of the precipice and often over it. We must
preserve the Empire from that, your Majesty.
KAISER
Of course. But I also want to protect the workers
instead of making laws against the Socialists and
[ 323 3
DISMISSAL ACT I
staining the beginning of my reign with the blood of
my subjects.
BISMARCK
If you give way now, your Majesty, perhaps your
reign will end red after all!
KAISER
You were the first to go in for social legislation 1
BISMARCK
For that very reason I will be the last to be Hooded
out by it. When I was a Dike-reeve—before your
Majesty was born or thought of—our motto was
“ Dam or be damned! ” And the experience of a
long life has confirmed it.
kaiser (getting up irritably)
Experience! Experience! ( Emphatically , almost
severely.) Understand me, Prince, I must have con¬
tented subjects!
bismarck (deep in his chair by the fire , sombrely , in a
low voice)
Are millionaires content? Contentment! . . .
Everything goes up in smoke and falls to ashes, like
these fine fir logs in which the strength of German
forests is spent through the Royal chimneys.
kaiser (goes up to him , urbanely)
What do you mean ?
bismarck (gets up heavily; his voice changes)
What your Majesty has just said is almost exactly
the tale told me by young Lassalle five-and-fifty
years ago.
C 3 2 4 ]
ACT I
DISMISSAL
KAISER
That visionary! Thank you! What did he want ?
BISMARCK
Just what you want—the happiness of mankind.
Perhaps also a State entry through the Brandenburger
Tor.
As a clown ?
KAISER
BISMARCK
No, your Majesty—as President of the German
Republic.
kaiser {amused: in a low voice )
Republic! Nonsense!
bismarck {emphatically)
The Kings of Prussia, whose servant I have been,
put “ contentment ” in the second place. Their first
object was to have a strong State. What your
Majesty is thinking of is an English policy—and
unfortunately, only half a one at that.
kaiser ( vehemently )
I will have no English policy! My feelings are
German 1
bismarck {more briskly)
Then, your Majesty, there must be no giving way
to threats, wherever they come from!
KAISER
Do you take me for a coward, Prince Bismarck?
bismarck
You must fight, your Majesty, as your Grand¬
father did in ’ 62 .
[ ]
DISMISSAL
ACT I
kaiser {uneasily)
Fight. . . . H’m! . . . but loyal men are warning
me against that-
BISMARCK
Am I not loyal, your Majesty?
KAISER
Others—warn me against being called King
Grape-shot, like my Grandfather.
bismarck ( ironically , in a low voice)
May it be granted to your Majesty to have as
successful a reign as that King Grape-shot! It is to
be hoped that these “ loyal men ” are smoothing the
way for you. These dilettanti, among them, are
taking upon themselves the responsibility which is
mine.
KAISER
The responsibility falls ultimately upon me!
BISMARCK
No; not if the Chancellor countersigns. Public
opinion credits the sovereign only with successes.
We beasts of burden get the kicks.
KAISER
You speak more bitterly than you ought, consider¬
ing the confidence shown you by my Father and
Grandfather.
BISMARCK
Who does not speak bitterly when he is old?
I don’t really know whether the old Emperor’s heir
—whether your Majesty doesn’t find me—in the way.
[ ].
ACT I
DISMISSAL
kaiser (an embarrasssed pause, then suddenly)
And my decrees ?
BISMARCK
Are popular absolutism 1
KAISER
That made Frederick great!
BISMARCK
Yes, your Majesty! But he had no Socialists, no
Press, no Trades Union laws, and no Talking Shop!
Such ideas are all right in certain drawing-rooms
where Caprivi and Windthorst snuggle down side by
side in the dark corner of a sofa.
kaiser (walking nervously up and down)
Windthorst! I detest that sanctimonious little
dwarf!
bismarck (slowly, standing upright by a chair)
Yet giants are rarely geniuses. Little people are
usually more subtle.
kaiser (irritably)
But there are also cunning giants, aren’t there?
(Pointedlyl) Are you satisfied at present—with your
Ministers ?
BISMARCK
I ? Your Majesty has just won the game!
KAISER
I? Won?
BISMARCK
Herr von Botticher, at the Crown Council,
C 327 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT I
declared that he had long had in his drawer proposals
such as you wanted. (Rather ironically .) Everything,
therefore, is going in accordance with your Majesty V s
most gracious will! All we want is a short interval to
prepare the final draft.
kaiser ( eagerly )
You will . . . then you would actually prepare a
draft... of my decrees.
BISMARCK
If I carry the law against the Socialists, then, so
far as I am concerned, you can forbid law-abiding
workmen to hammer on Sunday, if you wish.
kaiser {briskly)
A solution then ... entirely in accordance with my
ideas ?
BISMARCK
Only I must ask to be excused countersigning.
KAISER
That doesn’t matter! I will sign!
BISMARCK
In that case, however, I fear we shall have bad
elections in three weeks’ time. Property owners will
be made anxious and the workers bold. It’s the
’sixties over again. You soon find yourself sliding
downhill.
KAISER
I am not given to sliding! I will myself set the
Course of the ship of State.
C s 28 3
ACT I
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
Well, she needs the ballast of authority and a
strong Cabinet.
KAISER
Who displeases you, then, in the Cabinet ?
BISMARCK
Most of them, your Majesty!
KAISER
Couldn’t you at least be a little more friendly with
Bbtticher ?
BISMARCK
I fear he is getting a bad influence over your
Majesty. He suggests ideas to you which in your
better moments you abhor.
KAISER
No one suggests anything to me 1 I should repulse
anyone who dared to criticize my advisers.
BISMARCK
Absolute loyalty, of course, demands absolute
confidence. As in marriage, your Majesty.
kaiser (at a standstill)
And I should like to confide to this well assured
loyalty—if you —since you will stay with me—the
conduct of the Army Bill for 80,000 men, in the
Reichstag.
BISMARCK
I doubt whether the diminution of my Sovereign’s
confidence, which is already known, may not weaken
my position.
[ 32 9 3
DISMISSAL
ACT I
kaiser (very friendly)
There is no question of diminution, my dear
Prince! It was only consideration for your health
that led me to advise you to spend more time in your
fine forests. Now you have come back rejuvenated,
you accommodate yourself to my modern plans; you
give me the support of your authority. What shall
I do to give an outward and visible sign of my
confidence before the nation ?
BISMARCK
Outward and visible? Nothing. Only promise
me that you will stand firm against irresponsible
influences.
KAISER
I am a Hohenzollern!
BISMARCK
Otherwise—I couldn’t carry on any longer, your
Majesty. If he is to be responsible only one can rule!
KAISER
I hope in God we shall—from now on—do it
together! Good evening, my dear Prince! (Bis¬
marck bows and exit. Alone.) Only one ? That’s
just what I think!—Botticher! (Botticher returns.)
I have won! The Old Man has given wayl The
decrees shall issue with my signature! Europe shall
see what a people’s Prince isl
BOTTICHER
Gave way, your Majesty? Without a counter-
claim?
i 33° 3 .
ACT I
DISMISSAL
KAISER
I had to pay for his concession by agreeing to the
anti-Socialist law, otherwise he’d get me into trouble
with the Conservatives. But never mind! Eighty
thousand men, Bdtticherl Who but he could get
me eighty thousand men through this—Reichstag ?
bStticher
I—don’t understand the Prince! What motives
can-
KAISER
How blind you are! There’s your great man for
you! Nothing pains me more than the fall of what
was once so great a spirit! {At the window .) Now
the carriage door claps to, now he is leaning back
smiling, and thinking, “ I needn’t be afraid now!
I am indispensable ”! (He leaves the window.) Well!
he may breathe again for a few weeks! Only one
can rule!
C 33 1 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
they should have done, and the brute couldn’t be
stopped and dashed like a mad thing into the goods.
And that’s what has happened, so I told my wife,
between these two men.’
johanna (laughs gently)
“ A great big, respectable old goods train ” is
good. (Sighing.) Oh, to-day again it seems as if
there would be no end to it! He has to snatch a
mouthful of food when he can, and he arranges to
have as many as possible of his appointments here.
And the result is that he never gets to sleep before
two. Oh, this weary Berlin!
BILL
What’s on to-day ?
JOHANNA
The Budget, I think.
BILL
Such folly! Why does he do it, mother?
JOHANNA
Yes, Bill, why? You’re much better off in
Hanover. You, at any rate, don’t need to stimulate
yourself with alcohol so much as your Father does.
bill (j pushes the bottle away)
Oh I say!
johanna (pours him out a glass)
My dear, since when am I no longer permitted
to tease you ? ( She strokes his head , which is already
growing bald. He clasps her arms affectionately .) It’s
so nice to have you here I (Sighing.) Ah me 1
[ 333 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
BILL
Mother dear! You haven’t been back here four
weeks and you’re moaning and groaning worse than
ever!
JOHANNA
At Friedrichsruhe it was so much better.
BILL
Was he quiet there?
JOHANNA
Quiet! Have you ever seen him quiet for four-
and-twenty hours together? Only he wasn’t so
continually worried there. Here annoyances never
leave off! I wish you had seen him before the
Elections. There has been nothing like it since ’66.
And besides, these daily pin-pricks—( gesture )—from
over there 1 It’s enough to give a man of seventy-five
a heart attack!
BILL
Why doesn’t he get rid of the whole silly business
once for all ?
JOHANNA
Pshaw! Bill, that’s what I’ve thought ever since—
ever since you were born.
BILL
Thought , mother ? We must tell him so.
johanna {shocked)
Tell him? I’ve lived with him for forty years and
never dared to do that!
bill {quietly)
But someone should risk it!
[ 334 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
JOHANNA
You’ll do it? Don’t you think you’ve got a little
too much Chateau Lafitte on board ?
BILL
Oh, I can carry my share of that all right!
JOHANNA
Do. If you have the courage! You will probably
be thrown out of the room! What is it ?
SERVANT
• Her Excellency Frau von Botticher sends over to
ask if she may call on your Serene Highness to¬
morrow.
JOHANNA
Say I am sorry, to-morrow is impossible. ( Exit
Servant.) Not to-morrow and not this year! All this
Bbtticher lot that we have nourished in our bosoms!
She’s come to the right shop!
bill ( amused)
You expatiate in remarkable images and similitudes,
mother!
JOHANNA
Not at all! False creatures that your Father dragged
up from nothing and nowhere. Now he’s sneaking
about the Court. Of course, what he wants is to
come in here! ( Doors open and shut. Her manner
changes , and she cries eagerly .) Ah, there he is!
Thank heaven he is back! (In a lower voice t dis¬
appointedly.) Oh, it’s you! Good evening, Herbert,
where have you left your Father ?
[Herbert comes in from behind., carrying a
[ 335 ]
\\h t r} s Bildirdttnst
Herbirt vov Bismarck
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BILL
After your Excellency 1 Are the latest figures out ?
All losses.
HERBERT
BILL
A catastrophic defeat then ?
HERBERT
That’s another Puttkammerish exaggeration of
yours! You sit in Hanover, take your glass, and
hope Willem’ll be a good boy.
BILL
The last would be the most difficult of these three
occupations. But the best judge of the air in a room
is someone who comes in from outside.
HERBERT
Well?
BILL
I suppose you’ve ceased to notice how it stinks
here.
HERBERT
I don’t think we take it exactly for Eau-de-Cologne.
BILL
Then for goodness’ sake, put an end to it.
HERBERT
What are we to do ?
BILL
Put an end to it, I say, Herbert. It’s enough to
make one vomit 1
C 337 ]
z
DISMISSAL
ACT II
HERBERT
You think that Father should peacefully vanish
amid soft music and a cloud of laurel wreaths ?
BILL
Has any Prussian mortal ever controlled the
lightning?
HERBERT
I think Father has been doing nothing else these
thirty years!
BILL
Yes, but don’t you see that you are surrounded?
HERBERT
Do you seriously believe that Father is going to
capitulate to these pygmies, Botticher, Eulenburg and
Co.?
BILL
No. But who makes them so powerful ?
HERBERT
Oh, him\ We must get him in hand again!
BILL
The Old Man has been out of it too long.
HERBERT
He wanted to starve out the Kaiser.
BILL
But, on the contrary, Herbert, that eight months*
absence has only made “ the Eagle’s wings ” grow
faster! Decrees without a counter signature 1 A
sausage firm with a sleeping partner!
[ 338 ]'
ACT II
DISMISSAL
HERBERT
So you too miss the point? H.M. now sees the
consequences!
BILL
But the Old Man must get himself a majority.
HERBERT
Oh! He knows what he is about. You can smoke
your Havana quite at your ease so far as that goes.
BILL
But, after this Election smash, do you really think
it possible for the chief performer to retreat gracefully
en pirouette ?
HERBERT
Perhaps—he will decide to confine himself to
Foreign Affairs.
BILL
You must be quite mad! To have risen like a
new star, to have been a comet for thirty years, and
now to flicker out slowly like an oil lampl They’ll
all want to worship the rising sun as fat old Frederick
William used to say—Parties, Ministers, Federal
Princes, Municipalities! Are you blind? They’re
all turning away from him already to please our
Genius by the Grace of God! On such people, like
Ritter Gotz von Berlichingen, one should turn one’s
back!
Herbert (in a lower tone)
Heroes don’t give way. There is something heroic
about Father.
BILL
Agreed! But there’s nothing heroic about these
times.
[ 339 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
HERBERT
He has always forced his times to be as heroic as
himself!
BILL
Yes, when supported by the Man at the Top—
not against him.
HERBERT
But there are other powers in the State, Bill.
BILL
The devil there are! Has Father built himself
some kind of Parliamentary airshaft through which
he can draw oxygen when he wants it ?
Herbert ( slowly , in a low voice )
You don’t know what you’re saying! If you only
knew! Cut the heart out of an organism like ours
and see if it still can breathe ?
BILL
Father is not the heart, I hope.
HERBERT
My dear Bill, for Father it would mean backing
out before the fighting begins!
bill (rises, goes over to his brother , speaking low and
seriously)
Herbert! There are very few people besides us
three who love Father. We must be the ones to see it
first.
HERBERT
See what?
[ 340 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BILL
That the Old Man lacks the youth for such a
fight.
HERBERT
You think so? I have been thinking so, too, the
last four weeks.
BILL
Herbert! It’s not the same old hammer stroke.
[Herbert is silent and gazes in front of him.
Voices outside. They go apart and turn
to the open door where bismarck, in
civilian clothes , is standing beside his
wife.
JOHANNA
Have you really had enough supper?
bismarck ( cheerily )
Thank you, my dear child 1 One never really has
quite enough supper!
JOHANNA
Well, then, do have just a little pate de foie gras ,
Ottochen 1
BISMARCK
Won’t you come in with us, Johanna ?
JOHANNA
Later, perhaps. You’ll be talking politics all
night. [Goes out.
bismarck (comes into the room, with enquiring glances')
Well ? You look like two conspirators. Have you
already been discussing my funeral ?
C 34 * ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
BILL
If you are in good spirits, Father, we’ll gladly bear
the costs.
BISMARCK
Don’t talk of costs! For six hours I have been
thinking of nothing but figures. (Sits at the table and
points to the newspapers .) Anything important in
these things ?
HERBERT
Nothing. But—Koloman Tisza has resigned.
BISMARCK (strikes the table)
The devil! Tisza! What cowardice 1
BILL
But he had to.
BISMARCK
Had to P As if he were only some little Minister
or other! Tisza! After fifteen brilliant years of
uncurbed power in Hungary! It’s as if I had been
squeezed out in the year ’77. (Servant brings food.)
Un the top of that one must certainly take some-
thing to pull oneself together.
HERBERT
Schweninger thinks that heavy things like that are
bad for you at night.
bismarck (eating)
Jt hWe Su SCT » a " L" hi "> c omc and have
some, and he will at once see what an ass he isl BUI
understands; seventy? (f n a j ow Voice \ q-.
tolerable year! (Drinks.) This clears away Sme of
the disgust of things and makes you breathe again
[ 342 3 *
ACT II DISMISSAL
for a while. If the old fellows like Tisza give wayl
Well! Anything else ?
Herbert (hands him the portfolio)
A few signatures for the Chancellery.
[Bismarck turns over the pages , signing;
then stops short.
BISMARCK
What’s this ? Do you know the former papers ?
Herbert (leaning over his chair , hesitates)
No. Rottenberg says it’s all right.
BISMARCK
Who put “ approved ” on this? You?
HERBERT
No. Bdtticher must have agreed it alone with the
Kaiser.
bismarck (suddenly furious, thunders)
Alone ? So that’s the present fashion, is it? The
next thing will be that I shall hear from the Kreuz-
zeitung what’s going on in the country! This caps
all that everyone should be running direct to the
King 1 Who, I ask you, is governing in Prussia ?
[A pause. The two sons stand silent.
johanna (comes in R. gently)
Don’t excite yourself, Otto, my dearl
bismarck (controlling himself)
Forgive me, Johanna I I startled you. It’s over
now. Do stay with us.
[Johanna seats herself lightly , half on the
[ 343 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
sofa , near his chair and hands him his
long pipe. Bill gives him a light.
BISMARCK
Thank you. ... Is there anyone still in the
Chancellery ?
HERBERT
The night duty.
BISMARCK
Have the old Cabinet orders looked up at once.
They are on the right hand below in the second
bookcase. There should be one of the early ’fifties
forbidding direct access of Ministers to the King.
Eight copies are to be made and one sent to each of
the eight heroes, with a note in my name asking that
they will be good enough to remember it.
HERBERT
Immediately ?
BISMARCK
To be delivered by hand first thing to-morrow.
[Exit HERBERT.
johanna (taking advantage of the movement )
I’ve still got things to do. [Exit.
[Bismarck, alone with bill, takes up the
papers , turns them over irritably , and
lets them fall.
BISMARCK
Pshaw, Bill l Such is our life. Such is our life, day
in, day outl What are they saying down your way
in the country ?
[ 344 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
bill (looking contemplatively into his glass )
Nothing, nothing but what is in the papers.
bismarck ( attentively )
Your tone reminds me of Iago working against
Othello.
BILL
I haven’t read that play since I was at school,
Father.
BISMARCK
You hear much and say little, Bill.
BILL
Perhaps I’ve inherited that trait, Father.
BISMARCK
Not from me. I have always told people the truth
as I saw it to their faces so that they didn’t believe it.
BILL
I suppose, if I did the same, you wouldn’t believe
me either?
bismarck (crossly)
Nonsense! In a crisis like this I must rely on the
news I get from the few people I see. Of course
you’re not here by accident, and as a visitor you hear
more in Berlin, than Herbert as a Minister.
BILL
Not much. Only when we were at lunch at
Hiller’s to-day Henckel, who came in after me, heard
Lucanus say in the cloak-room that Botticher was
expecting a new and signal mark of favour from
above.
C 345 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
BISMARCK
He has been doing that for the last twenty years.
BILL
But this time it seems to be coming off.
BISMARCK
I saw him weep because Verdy got the Red Bird
before him. For a year he has been dreaming of
being allowed to take precedence at Court with
Field-Marshals. That man I dragged up out of the
dirt so that he might betray me now. He is one of
those people who think they are Rothschilds if they’re
in a position to change a hundred mark note.
BILL
Yet he seems to have captured most of his colleagues.
BISMARCK
The rogues would all be delighted and would
cry ouf! if I finally shook the dust off my feet. Have
you managed to see anything of Rauchhaupt ?
BILL
No. But Lerchenfeld is saying that His Majesty
has been complaining that you are getting up pro¬
tests against your possible departure.
BISMARCK
These rags don’t give much clue to that! All the
more am I disposed to think that B&tticher e tutti
quanti must be sent about their business 1
[Takes up the paper again , and smokes
vigorously.
[ 346 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BILL
And if he—wants to keep them ?
bismarck (smoking quietly)
Then I go.
BILL
In order to give them the pleasure of saying ouf!
bismarck (lays down his pipe and looks at him with a
wrinkled forehead from under his bushy eyebrows')
Why do you sit so much in the shadow of the
lamp? Why can’t you come into the light?
bill (gets up and comes to the Prince— simply)
Father! Let the whole lot go hang! The whole
Hinzpeter, Waldersee, Botticher gang—who are in a
position to pull down the lion now that God has
blunted his claws!
BISMARCK
What do you mean by taking the name of God in
vain ?
BILL
The King does it 1 He has the power, and it was
you that gave it him 1
BISMARCK
And am I now to hand over the old house to him
so that he may tear it down with his clumsy fingers,
and so that I in my old age may stand before the heap
of ruins he has made, and think to myself, “that
comes of my being so touchy! ”
BILL
Your house must surely have been made of steel
[ 347 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
It is long enough since I ceased to have that
pleasure dans Vintimite.
WINDTHORST
Not so bad as all that—only about fifteen years.
BISMARCK
A mere moment in the life of a people, you would
say. (<Offering cigars .) You smoker I hope you
don't mind my pipe ?
WINDTHORST
Not in the least. I am—quite hardened.
BISMARCK
In old age there is nothing left but this to make life
endurable. (Pointing to a newspaper .) I see, by the
way, your Germania announces this morning that I
am already dead.
WINDTHORST
Your revival this evening may be all the more
complete.
BISMARCK
That’s my intention, anyhow!
WINDTHORST
Well, the result of this Election is the return to
the arena, victorious and strengthened, of all those
elements which your Serene Highness has described
at different times as enemies of the Empire. ( Com¬
placently enumerating .) Socialists, Liberals, Centre,
Greater Germans, Guelphs-
C 349 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
BISMARCK
And now, I gather, you are astonished to see that
I am still comfortably smoking my pipe at 77 Wil-
helmstrasse.
WINDTHORST
That surprises me less, your Serene Highness,
than that I should be sitting beside you smoking
your Havanas.
BISMARCK
What could any mortal soul expect after the Kaiser’s
decrees? His romantic ideas are smashed all along
the line.
WINDTHORST
Yes, but while his ideas are responsible for this
million and a half of red votes, he has himself had a
personal triumph everywhere. Many votes were
even given for Kaiser Wilhelm himself!
BISMARCK
If your conclusion is that I, personally, have lost
the Election, I agree. But it touches me less than
it does the Kaiser.
WINDTHORST
There I recognize your old courage! Always a
fighter, as of yore! And yet you have never been so
isolated since ’ 66 .
BISMARCK
Against that I have several shots in the locker.
If I don’t get a new majority in three days’ time I
shall circumvent the Reichstag through the Landtag.
WINDTHORST
And then ?
[ 350 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
I shall dissolve the Reichstag once—twice.
WINDTHORST
And if even that fails ?
Bismarck (clearly and soberly , putting away his pipe )
Then I shall summon the Federal Princes to
Berlin and, in concert with them, will alter the suffrage
provisions of the Constitution. The vote will be
taken away from the Socialists because they are
enemies of the State. Then there will be revolts and
we shall shoot. You smile ?
WINDTHORST
I only smile, your Serene Highness, because you
appear to be beginning your career all over again!
BISMARCK
True, we have had all this before in Prussia. I was
supposed to be done for in ’ 62 . Nevertheless, I
should prefer a new majority, for I dislike bloodshed
even more than I dislike Parliaments.
WINDTHORST
H’m 1 A majority-
BISMARCK
Composed of the Conservative elements in the
nation, including, of course, the Centre.
WINDTHORST ( 'sententiously )
The great struggle for the preservation of Society
and the State is too serious not to make us forget old
quarrels.
C 35 1 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT ,
BISMARCK
The hatchet has been buried for ten years.
WINDTHORST
It has sometimes seemed to us that your Seren<
Highness only covered it with a thin layer of sand
BISMARCK
You know my programme. What are your terms i
WINDTHORST
Nothing but what is reasonable and moderate.
Denominational Schools and recognition of the
Jesuits.
bismarck (rises slowly, goes to the stove at the back and
leans on it; a pause)
We have been honourable opponents so long, your
Excellency. Can we really become so easily recon¬
ciled in our old age? Are you prepared to burden
your Christian conscience with such an ally ? Why, I
think it would be more dignified for me to take my
departure like Tisza in Hungary.
windthorst (gets up sharply and approaches him with
short steps)
For God’s sake, your Serene Highness, don’t go
now! I have fought you so long that you will believe
I am sincere when I say this. A world divides us,
but a world’s danger unites us. You are the last
and the only man in Germany who has it in him to
dam this red flood. If you went, the deluge of gross
materialism and utter unbelief would break in on us.
Under a fiery ruler, with the best and most Christian
intentions, we should get on to the slippery slope,
[ 352 ]
ACT II DISMISSAL
and all chance of stopping would be lost! Listen
to the advice of your old opponent!
bismarck (comes forward smiling—a pause)
Strange. Windthorst implores me to remain!
Fifteen years ago your people would have given a
good deal had a certain assassin aimed straighter!
WINDTHORST
Such is politics, your Serene Highness!
bismarck (in a low voice)
You might well have said such is life. Your
demands are too high.
windthorst (suddenly cold again )
I’m afraid the Party couldn’t reduce them.
BISMARCK
Then it’s not worth your while to make a sacrifice
to secure my staying ?
WINDTHORST
You have known public affairs as long as I, and
better. I am old and satiated. But my colleagues in
the Party want to be on the winning side, and would
at best go with you and the Kaiser but, failing that,
decidedly with the Kaiser.
bismarck (half aloud)
Attractive allies!
WINDTHORST
Rauchhaupt won’t ask much on behalf of the
Conservatives. Agree to our conditions and you
[ 353 ] aa
DISMISSAL
ACT II
have a majority. ( Re-enter Herbert, followed by a big
mastiff.) But here comes your son with more work
for you. I mustn’t keep you longer. Good-bye to
both of you. [Exit windthorst.
HERBERT
Well, did he ask a lot ?
BISMARCK
He looked like Alberich disguised as a Jesuit.
He pretended he thought I was indispensable.
HERBERT
Did you threaten him with your departure ?
BISMARCK
I only wanted to see whether he would rise. He
exaggerated the importance of my staying in order
not to have to lower his terms. Recognition of the
Jesuits and Roman Catholic Schools. A long price 1
If I come to terms with Rauchhaupt to-morrow,
Herbert, we have a majority.
Herbert ( embarrassed)
I fear—not. I found several—disagreeable things
up in the Chancellery.
bismarck (in the act of sitting down , turns sharply;
and in a combative tone)
What?
HERBERT
Rauchhaupt refuses for to-morrow.
bismarck (grimly)
He—won’t come ?
[ 354 3
ACT II
DISMISSAL
HERBERT
This afternoon he went to Bbtticher and placed the
Conservatives at the disposal of the Government on
the ground that it was no longer possible to work
with Prince Bismarck.
bismarck ( disconcerted , then laughs aloud)
That’s a good joke; playing the Protestant card
and running after the Kaiser because he can’t stand
Windthorst. To-morrow I shall have an audience
and demand Botticher’s head.
Herbert {much embarrassed)
That—will be too late, Father.
BISMARCK
Why?
HERBERT
This evening—Botticher—received the Black
Eagle.
bismarck ( turning away , after a pause , in a low voice )
“ Thou hast won, Octavio 1 ”
HERBERT
The very devil is in itl As if everything must
happen at once, here is a letter in the Kaiser’s own
hand. [Takes it out of his portfolio .
bismarck {before reading if)
A note in his own writing sent open through the
Chancellery ? So that my staff may see it before me ?
What are these enclosures ?
C 355 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
HERBERT
The reports from our consul -at Kieff which you
held.ljack.
BISMARCK
Yes, but from whom did the Kaiser get them?
HERBERT
Holstein must have given them to Waldersee.
BISMARCK
Though I forbade it?!
HERBERT
But read the note, Father!
bismarck {reads)
“ The reports clearly show that the Russians are
preparing for war. You might have warned me
long ago against this terrible danger! It is high time
to warn Austria and take counter-measures.” {He
breaks out.) Is the boy mad ? Stale old reports I held
back in order to prevent his nerves and his distrust
of Russia getting the better of him. For months I
have been labouring to bring Russia to terms—and
now he wants to alarm Vienna! To say this to me
through my whole office! To meddle in my business!
Do you know what the Czar thinks of him ? {Takes a
paper out of his pocket-book .) I haven’t shown it to
you yet, Herbert! It is a report from London with
the Czar’s opinion of the Kaiser. There—and there
—particularly the third passage!
HERBERT
Good heavens, he does go for him!
[ .356 ]
ACT II
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
Give it me back l I feel happier when I have it in
my breast pocket. ( Walks up and down breathing
deeply.) This really makes one young again. "All the
powers against me as in ’ 62 . And I am to give wayl
All because he said “ grand-papa ” to my old Master ?
I am not Tisza, your Majesty! Of my own will I
will never humbly ask leave to resign-
HERBERT
The nation would rise to stop it, Father 1
BISMARCK
The nation? Herbert—have you ever met a
grateful German ?
HERBERT
If there was only some way of protesting-
BISMARCK
You are biting your lips and thinking, like that
hostile dwarf who was here just now, that it was I
myself who made myself the prisoner of the Crown
by giving the Parliamentarians so little scope in the
Constitution.
HERBERT
I only thought-
bismarck (slowly and gloomily)
Good night, my boy!
HERBERT
Good night, Father!
bismarck ( alone; sinks down into the big chair)
Is my own house in a conspiracy ? The boys’ feces
C 357 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT II
were a study 1 Bill seems to know more than he says,
and, when all is said and done, he is no fooll But
you’re all wrong 1 (The dog raises his head towards him.
He strokes frim .) Yes, Tyrasl I still have you and
Windthprst. You know, with Windthorst it is as
if you suddenly went and gave a paw to every stranger
and snarled at me? You dogs are the only loyal
subjects! Frederick knew what he was about when
he set up marble tombstones to your memory 1
johanna (in her night attire , gently opens the door R.)
Ottochen 1
bismarck (immovable in his chair )
Yes, my love!
JOHANNA
Are you alone ?
BISMARCK
Very much so!
JOHANNA
Who are you speaking to, then, in there ?
BISMARCK
To the last and only one who never contradicts
me! [Strokes the dog.
JOHANNA
You are so excited again. Won’t you try the
experiment of a sleeping-draught just for once r
bismarck (not hearing; gently)
But, when all’s said and done— he won't dare l
C 318 ]
ACT in
Bismarck’s workroom. A large portrait oj the old
Kaiser. Morning. Much bustle , doors opening
and shutting. Two Servants.
THE YOUNGER SERVANT
Quick, quick, open the windows. The whole
place reeks of tobacco again.
THE OLDER SERVANT
Hands off! Leave it shut. If I were to open it
the Old Gentleman would feel chilly.
THE YOUNGER SERVANT
Oh—a fig for the Old Man! His Majesty can’t
come into this atmosphere 1
THE OLDER SERVANT
Are you in Willem’s service or Bismarck’s ? Come
on and help lift the stand a little this way.
THE YOUNGER SERVANT
Ughl What dusty papers 1 They’ve been there
ever since last year. He lets everything lie 1 Whose
service am I in, you ask ? I and you and the Excellen¬
cies and the Old Man himself—we’re all paid by
Willem. Isn’t that correct?
THE OLDER SERVANT
From the constitutional point of view—lift, boy!
There, that’ll dol Constitutionally speaking, that’s
rather a moot point. As for the State, it pays us all
C 359 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
—even the King, do you understand? That is the
Civil List. Come away from that writing-table 1
If you were to disturb a single sheet, it would be
good-bye to your pension!
THE YOUNGER SERVANT
Well, I’ll stand behind this door to hear His
Majesty put his servant out by the other door. When
the weather is stormy every word is worth hearing!
That’s the way we come into history, you see ?
THE OLDER SERVANT
Get out!
[Both exeunt quickly behind. Door opens L.
[Enter Herbert and lucanus L. Both
remain standing as they talk.
lucanus (even smoother than before)
I am exceedingly sorry to have troubled your
Excellency so early. Only the will of our most
gracious Master-
HERBERT
To tell you the truth—this very early hour-
LUCANUS
His Majesty was so much disturbed yesterday
evening by the latest events, that he could not delay
any longer having a full discussion with his old
adviser His Serene Highness the Prince Imperial
Chancellor.
HERBERT
Unfortunately, the announcement of his visit has
only just come, your Excellency!
i 36 o ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
LUCANUS
How annoying! It was certainly sent last night.
Unfortunately, the Night Service occasionally fails.
'HERBERT
If we Heads left off work as soon as our staff, the
machine would soon come to a standstill.
LUCANUS
Indeed, yes. And 'our gracious Master surpasses
us all in diligence! The inexhaustible powers of
work of his ancestors of glorious memory, coupled
with the fire of youth and the great Mission he has
undertaken in the sight of God-
HERBERT
Your Excellency doesn’t fear a scene ?
lucanus {still smiling)
How could that be ? The natural differences due
to age are transcended on the one hand by the venera¬
tion of the Monarch for his First Servant, and, on the
other, by the unshakable loyalty of His Serene High¬
ness to the august Imperial and Royal House.
HERBERT
My Father has been very severely tried just lately,
your Excellency!
LUCANUS
For that he is armed with the wisdom of age and
his understanding kindness.
HERBERT
I’m not sure whether it isn’t rather dangerous in
[ 3 61 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
these days to allow his temperament to come into
collision with the Kaiser’s impetuous disposition.
LUCANUS
With your Excellency as mediator-
HERBERT
Not I—your Excellency!
LUCANUS
Oh! I am a simple fellow, a mere Court official—
but—( suddenly ) in any case, may we not flatter our¬
selves with the hope that your Excellency, independ¬
ently of His Serene Highness’s remaining in office
and indeed eventually after he is gone, will carry on
for the good of the Empire the great tradition of your
family ?
HERBERT
Of course, I stand and fall with my Father.
LUCANUS
Weill Well! There remains the hope that we
shall see Father and son for many years yet in that
splendid partnership. My compliments, your
Excellency. Good morning! Good morning! I
hasten to await His Majesty below. [Exit.
HERBERT
I’ll be with you immediately. {Alone.) It’s
settled 1 He’s already asking whether I would
remain after Father goes! H’m I these people have a
curious notion of what family pride is!
johanna {hurrying in excitedly R.)
Herbert! It is shameful 1
[ 362 ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
Herbert ( carefully closing the doors)
Mother! The servants can hear every word you
sayl
johanna (beside herself)
I wish all Berlin could hear—and all Germany 1
HERBERT
Nevertheless we must avoid all noise just now.
JOHANNA
You are right. Your Father must have his sleep
out.
HERBERT
No, but so that we may prevent the worst happen¬
ing.
JOHANNA
I wish it would happen 1 You needn’t glare at me
like that 1 I have never made trouble all these forty
years. But such want of consideration 1 To drag an
old man from his bed at such an hour 1 In peace time,
too! Your Father would never treat one of his
tenants like this 1 At one and two last night I listened
at his door. Nothing but tossing and groaning so
that the very bed cracked 1 Who is he working for.
but for these very people ? And this young monkey
orders him about as if this were the porter’s lodge!
HERBERT
Mother, such language only makes things worse.
JOHANNA
And I tell you he will not receive him! You tell
him kindly and politely, but firmly, that in winter
the Imperial Chancellor is not on duty so early as
[ 363 ]
DISMISSAL ACT III
half-past eight. That’s what you’re Secretary of
State for!
HERBERT
Will Father soon be ready?
JOHANNA
I hope he has gone to sleep again!
servant ( entering in haste )
Your Excellency. The Imperial carriage is
drawing up.
[Herbert hastens out at the back , the doors
remaining, open behind him.
johanna {alone, remains standing before the portrait of
the old Kaiser)
If he had seen this! I used to be angry enough
with him when Otto lost patience with him at Gastein
and in the Kulturkampf. But at half-past eight in
the morning! Such a thing would never have
occurred to him ! ([Doors bang, swords rattle, and spurs
clink.) Yes, you can clink and clatter through the
whole house so far as I am concerned! We are never
more than tenants here!
[Exit R., slams the door behind her. Stage
empty. Then immediately enter through
door at the back the kaiser, in uniform,
and Herbert, while behind them
lucanus, Officers, and Servants are
seen for a moment and disappear again .
kaiser {speaking over his shoulder)
I’ll see you again presently, Lucanus. ( Then with•
obviously forced calmness .) Your Father—is not up
yet?
[ 364 ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
HERBERT
Pardon, your Majesty, the announcement came
only a quarter of an hour ago.
kaiser (still on his feet , looking round the room)
Doesn’t matter—I’ll wait. (A painful pause.) No
wonder with his years. It must make his work
heavier for him, however well cared for he is in his
honoured old age.
HERBERT
In his working hours, your Majesty, I think that,
at seventy-five, he still excels all the younger Ministers!
KAISER
Cornel Come! My people, too, are not lazy.
(Anotherpaused) Besides, the Prince has been having
a well earned rest for nearly a year. Is he now really
well ?
HERBERT
Better than for years past, your Majesty.
KAISER
That would be most gratifying! But we must be
careful not again to endanger this happy state of
things by over-strenuous work.
HERBERT
His is a restless spirit, your Majesty. Rest would
kill him.
KAISER
That I can understand. I am like that myself!
Life is movement—upward and onward! Do you
think that a man over seventy can still keep up the
pace ? What do you think, Count Bismarck?
C 3«J ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
HERBERT
I think that my Father imposed that pace on your
Majesty’s Grandfather till he was ninety.
KAISER
That’s a legend! The guiding spirit was and
continued to be the Kaiser! ( Enter bismarck R. in
uniform but untidy; he is fastening the lower buttons of
his coat as he comes in. He is carrying a portfolio. His
eyes are tired and his voice is at first dull , not as in Act II.)
Good morning, your Serene Highness!
BISMARCK
’Morning, your Majesty. I have only just been
told of your intended visit.
Herbert (with a gesture)
Does your Majesty wish me to go ?
KAISER
No! No! There are no secrets! (Bismarck
looks meaningly towards the door. A pause!) It is your
Father’s order!
[Herbert bows and exit. An embarrassed
pause.
BISMARCK
I must offer my apologies—so early. In these
days one sleeps late. Things keep one up so late
at night. ( Aggressively.) Your Majesty doesn’t yet
know what that means. You are young.
kaiser (proudly)
I am, and I mean to remain so for some rim*
longer. When I am worn out I will hand over the
reins to my first-born.
t 366 ]
CT III
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
That would be a very good, thing for dynasties.
It’s a pity it is almost never done.
KAISER
A pity? Would you have wished my Grand¬
father to abdicate ten years before his death in favour
of my Father?
BISMARCK
His high sense of duty would have forbidden hiiti
to do that, your Majesty.
kaiser (angrily sits down under the portrait of the old
Kaiser)
H’m! My sense of duty forbids me to look on in
silence any longer while all parties are declaring
against your government. Now the Conservatives
also have gone into Opposition. On what party do
you intend to rely ?
bismarck (sits down heavily)
On the Crown, your Majesty.
kaiser (haughtily)
That would indeed be the most convenient
arrangement.
BISMARCK
It was once the most dangerous one. The effect
of your decrees has brought us into this position, as I
told you it would. We must fight.
KAISER
It is not my decrees but your threats which have
caused the confusion. I am a people’s Prince and
[ 367 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT Ill
determined to rule strictlyHfcotrding to the Constitu¬
tion —-your .Constitution) Prince 1 I have charged a
man who has my confidence to negotiate with the
Parties to secure the best that is possible in the cir¬
cumstances.
BISMARCK
In that case I must beg leave to hand over my
office and my responsibility to that man, and to- take
my departure.
KAISER
Again, you are putting me in a very embarrassing
position, your Serene Highness!
BISMARCK
Your Majesty, I was compelled repeatedly to
place in that position the King whose honoured
features I see above your own. And it is only because
I swore it to him in an hour of extreme peril that, in
spite of many mortifications, I have remained in his
successor’s service.
KAISER
God is my witness how rrj^ny nights' I have im¬
plored Him to soften your .heart and spare me a
separation!
- BISMARClt
In these same nights I, too, have been unable to
sleep for worry about the future of the Empire!
KAISER
And now is it your intention to govern this Empire
of mine with the help of the Centre? You have
. received Windthorst, one of my bitterest enemies.
'You should have forbidden him your house, .or at
least consulted me about it.
C 368 ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
B*M*RCK
Your Majestjr misunderstands the duties' of the
Chancellor which necessitate his conferring with
Party Leaders. '-1‘must decline all control in this
matter.
kaiser (Hands uf suddenly — cuttingly )
Even when I, as your Sovereign, command ?
Bismarck (likewise stands up and looks him sternly in
the f ace)
Your Majesty’s commands end at my wife’s drawing¬
room.
kaiser (turns atioay before his look, takes some steps
away from him-^-controls himself)
There—can, of course, be no question of a command
so far as you are concerned. I can only express my
wishes. But such a provocation of the people as
to-day’s newspapers indicate cannot, surely, be your
intention 1
bismarck (standing otpffctard before his writing-table)
It is! There must'be such a hullabaloo in the
Empire that no one shsjl know what the Kaiser is at
with his policy!
kaiser (at some distance from him )
Quite wrong! My intentions must shine before
tht*eyes of my beloved people as clear as the Rhine
gold.
bismarck (unyielding)
Then, your Majesty must play politics in the
streets or in the theatre.
[ 36 Q ] bb
DISMISSAL
ACT III
kaiser {friendly but distant )
No, my intention rather is to conduct them with
my Ministers!
BISMARCK
They all depend on me and cannot deal direct with
the Crown.
KAISER
You are relying on that mouldy old Order!
BISMARCK
The Tables of the Law handed to Moses are like¬
wise corroded with mould and rust, but they still
stand.
kaiser {cuttingly)
The order will be revoked: it is unnecessary.
BISMARCK
Only under an absolute monarch.
KAISER
Why then has nothing been heard of it for half a
century ?
BISMARCK
Because of the confidence reposed by three Kings
of Prussia in their chief adviser, and because the
invariable practice of these Kings took its place.
KAISER
So it is a kind of oath to the Imperial Chancellor!
You are creating grave conflicts of duty for my officials.
BISMARCK
It is no part of my business to be the spiritual
director of Privy Councillors, your Majesty.
[ 370 ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
KAISER
So you wish to keep my Ministers from me ?
BISMARCK
After discussion in my presence it is always open
to your Majesty to decide against me and in favour
of the Ministers.
KAISER
You want to treat me like the Emperor of China,
and lay before me only what you think fit.
BISMARCK
Your Majesty cannot govern the Empire alone.
You must have a competent Chancellor to make a
choice for you.
kaiser ( vehemently )
Then what, may I ask, am I here for at all ? Who,
in fact, is governing this country ?
BISMARCK
I have the impression that, through the medium
of two Kings of Prussia I have, for the last twenty-
eight years, been de facto conducting its affairs.
KAISER
Well, it is my intention, if God gives me life, to
conduct them myself through the medium of my
Ministers for the next twenty-eight years!
Bismarck ( immovable )
With my humble duty I hope your Majesty will
be as successful as your Grandfather of blessed and
glorious memory.
'■ [ 37i ]
DISMISSAL
ACT.JII
KAISER
Under God’s providence the strength of my army
will see to that. We are in a frightful crisis which,
in spite of all our differences, we ought at once to
meet in a united spirit. I am astonished, your
Serene Highness, that you should have kept back
from me the threatening news from Russia.
BISMARCK
Still more astonished am I that your Majesty
should have accused me of nothing less than treason
before all my officials.
KAISER
When did I do that ?
BISMARCK
In your open note, written by your own hand, in
which you complain that I have neglected the defence
of the country!
KAISER
And you still fail to see the danger which threatens 1
BISMARCK
Schuwalow, who returned to Berlin to-day, has
just written me a most important letter. He has
full powers to negotiate with me personally for a two
years’ extension of the treaty. That means the safety
of the Empire.
KAISER
In this treaty is neutrality stipulated in Austrian
wars in the Balkans ?
[ m ]
ac? in
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
That is an essential point. The Austrian alliance
is not a co-operative association.
KAISER
I, on the contrary, should have decided to stand
loyally by my august ally at Vienna.
BISMARCK
Then, after twenty-four years, I have to regret
that when I urged your Grandfather to conclude the
alliance at Nikolsburg, I prepared an evil day for him.
KAISER
On the other hand I distrust this Czar profoundly.
Sooner or later we shall have to cross swords with him.
bismarck (takes up and opens his portfolio )
If it were a mere matter of personal feeling your
Majesty’s erroneous generalization would be only too
true.
KAISER
Have you any more recent news ?
bismarck (takes a paper out , seems to consider , then
slowly)
Not exactly news. Only reports Hatzfeld sends
us from London.
KAISER
Why don’t I get them ?
BISMARCK
They—are not suitable for presentation. They
are expressions the Czar is reported to have used
C 373 ]
DISMISSAL ACT III
about your Majesty in London—and might wound
your feelings.
KAISER
I don’t think I’m at all vain. Please read them out.
BISMARCK
That is quite impossible! Never would I read
such things to my Sovereign with my own lips-
kaiser (snatching the paper from him)
Give it me! (Bismarck observes him while he reads ,
flushes , breathes heavily , stammers , throws the paper on
the writing-table , andfinally bursts out.) Impertinence!
And it is with this fellow you want to make a treaty ?
bismarck (resumingpossession of the paper)
I warned your Majesty before you read it. But
love is not necessary in such a marriage. In spite of
everything the renewal of the treaty remains a
paramount necessity of State.
kaiser (out of himself , striking the table)
You are wrong, Prince 1 With this enemy I will
never renew a treaty!
BISMARCK
Then the Empire will have to make war on two
fronts, and will go under.
KAISER
We shall know how to guard against thatl It is
in any case my Empire which is at stake!
bismarck (growling)
Yes, your Majesty, it is your Empire! (A pause ,
C 374 3
ACT III
DISMISSAL
then in violent crescendo .) But before your Majesty
was born, when Friedrich Wilhelm IV obstructed
the birth of this Empire, when King Wilhelm after¬
wards was in despair about it, it stood clearly before
one mind. I really don’t know who actually founded
it, but so long as I draw breath I shall know how to
defend it, your Majesty!
KAISER
That your Serene Highness will have to leave to
the dynasty which did found it. I really don’t know
whether it was the Hohenzollern dynasty or the
Bismarck dynasty!
Bismarck (comes a step nearer , terribly roused at last ,
hut very slowly )
The Bismarcks, your Majesty, are a family of
Knights who have been longer settled in their
hereditary estates in the Mark of Brandenburg than
the Hohenzollern family who are more recent immi¬
grants from Franconia. And because they acknow¬
ledge the divine origin of your Kingdom, they have,
until to-day, served your family as free men may. As
to the Hohenzollerns, however, I have read in a
history book that in the ’sixties they were on the point
of losing both their Country and their Crown, that
the Heir to the Throne fled to England—and that
the advice and the firmness of a spirited member of
my family alone saved them!
kaiser (much flushed , in the combative pose of an officer
with his hand on his sword)
It is a tradition of our House to show insubordinate
families that their power comes of Our Grace alone.
We Ourselves are answerable only to God. Any man
C 375 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
who sets himself up against me I will shatter. ( Tears
the door open. Figures seen in the ante-room. The
kaiser turns back and shakes hands nervously.') Good
morning, your Serene Highness!
bismarck (with a deep, half-ironic bow at the door)
With my humblest duty, good morning, your
Majesty! (Crowding figures, swords, and spurs sound
on the stairs; the door remains open. Alone, in a low
voice.) “ I will shatter him! ” (He walks twice
silently up and down the room , then remains standing,
silently contemplating the portrait of the old Kaiser. In a
low voice.) Forgive me, old Master-
Herbert (enters, hastily shutting the door behind him)
Father!—it resounded through the whole house,
even to the servants’ quarters!
bismarck (composedly)
I wish it were still resounding in other servants’
quarters. (He takes several steps; then, in a different
tone.) Send at once to the Russian Embassy and say
I should be glad if Count Schuwalow would come
here at once. Everything now depends on hours.
To-day is March 15 . On April 1 the treaty with
the Czar expires. On the 1 st we—shall be removing.
Before then the treaty must at any cost be renewed I
HERBERT
But—if the Kaiser-
BISMARCK
My full powers to conclude with the Russians
will run for some days. I won’t resign till the treaty
is concluded 1 And if he dares to dismiss me. I will
[ 37« ]
ACT III DISMISSAL
nqt countersign the decree until we are through with
Schuwalow.
HERBERT
But if the Chancelleries-
BISMARCK
I’ll do it myself! The papers immediately! You’ll
act as private secretary! Quick! Let no one from
the Palace intercept my message to the Russian
Embassy 1 [Exit Herbert silently R.
bismarck ( alone , standing still)
If only I can conclude for two years they can’t
commit any follies, at any rate till ’ 92 . By that time
let us hope one will be underground.
[Sinks exhausted into a chair.
johanna (entering hastily R.)
Ottochen! They will be the death of him!
[Runs out again; doors open.
BISMARCK [softly)
I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast raised up
this Angel to me in the desert!
johanna {comes with a damp cloth , which she puts on
his head)
Ottochen, throw them all overboard!
BISMARCK {low)
I wouldn’t mind about the Captain, but the ship!
The ship! [Enter a Servant.
C 377 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
SERVANT
His Excellency Herr von Lucanus!
\The spouses look at each other in silence. He
raises himself , takes off the cloth , and
stands up to his full great height.
BISMARCK
Ask him to come in.
lucanus (enters with a deep bow, then looks at the
Princess)
Excuse me, your Serene Highness-
bismarck (very quietly)
The Princess is accustomed not to betray State
secrets.
LUCANUS
It was only to spare her Serene Highness being
troubled with business.
BISMARCK
What does your Excellency desire ?
LUCANUS
His Majesty requests your Serene Highness to be
so good as to submit to him as soon as possible a
Cabinet order revoking, once for all,-the Cabinet Order
of the year 1852 respecting the reports of Ministers
to His Majesty.
BISMARCK
Tell the Kaiser that, as he already knows, I will
not revoke the order. Is that all ?
[ 373 ]
ACT III
DISMISSAL
lucanus {much embarrassed)
I regret that my mission is not yet over. His
Majesty was pleased to direct me to acquaint your
Serene Highness that, in case your Serene Highness
seemed indisposed to revoke immediately the Cabinet
Order of the year 1852 , His Majesty would expect
your Serene Highness at the Palace at two o’clock, in
order that he may graciously accept your resignation
and grant your retirement with the usual pension.
bismarck (after a pause)
Tell the Kaiser I won’t come. (Lucanus stares at
him.) I will write! ’Morning, your Excellency 1
[Lucanus bows silently and exit.
JOHANNA
Brutes 1
BISMARCK
Pshaw,"dear Johanna! He crawled out of the egg
in the historic State bed in the Palace at Berlin on die
Spree, while I only came out of our plain wooden bo?
at Schonhausen.
JOHANNA
Ottochen! Be glad! Now at last in our declining
days we shall enjoy the quiet of the forest for which
you have been longing for years!
BISMARCK
But the shipf
Herbert (comes hurrying back)
Schuwalow will be here in a quarter of an hour!
BISMARCK
Too late!
C 379 ]
DISMISSAL
ACT III
HERBERT
So that was Lucanus in the carriage below!
BISMARCK
The only treaties I shall make now will be with the
sawmill at Friedrichsruhe.
HERBERT
And you mean—to put up with it, Father?
JOHANNA
The people won’t believe it!
HERBERT
Then we must put before them a plain issue.
BISMARCK
Do you mean the people—the nation ? I am not
accustomed to seek cover in a fight!
HERBERT
Even when your opponent covers his face with the
Crown ?
bismarck (in a quiet , almost religious , tone)
When he does that he is inviolable, Herbert!
(With a change of tone , getting up suddenly 0 But I
might perhaps say to him, as I once said to Pleschke,
who wanted to fell the old oak near the house to make
room for an ornamental border. Who ever dares to
fell my old giants may he be crushed in their fell!
\Afrightened pause.
johanna (soothingly)
Ottochen!
[ 380.j
ACT III
DISMISSAL
BISMARCK
Schuwalow is coming! Do you think you can
even yet get the treaty through? If so, you must
stay in office.
HERBERT
Not an hour longer than you.
BISMARCK
Then—I must abandon the fate of my Empire to
its hereditary Kaiser!
THE END
C. 381 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
ARAGO, Emmanuel (1812-1896). French politician, son
of the celebrated physicist, astronomer, and politician,
Francois Arago. Became a member of the Government
of National Defence in 1870.
AUGUSTA, Queen of Prussia, German Empress (181 i-
1890). Daughter of Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of
Saxe-Wcimar, and granddaughter of Karl August, friend
and patron of Goethe. Admirably educated, she had
seen Goethe in the flesh, and was a link with the high
and humane culture of his generation. She was inter¬
ested both in art and literature, and was herself the
author of many original musical compositions.
In 1829 she married Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia, sub¬
sequently Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, German Emperor,
and had two children, one of whom was afterwards the
Emperor Frederick, the other, Luise, Grand Duchess
of Baden. In 1849 she took up her residence at Coblenz,
to which she became much attached.
At the Imperial Court she represented the interests of
culture and benevolence, though she was reproached
(perhaps not unjustly) with Romantic tendencies, and
though her tendency to meddle in politics was often the
subject of Bismarck's acid comments.
BISMARCK, Herbert von (1849-1904). Son of Otto
volt Bismarck. Severely wounded at Mars la-Tour.
Entered the Foreign Office in 1872, employed at the
German Legations at Dresden, Munich, Berne, and
Vienna, as well as in his father’s o^ce. In 1882 he was
Councillor of Embassy in London, m 1884 he occupied
a similar position at St. Petersburg, and in the same year
became German Minister at the Hague. Returning to
the Foreign Office at the end of 1884 he became Under
Secretary of State in May 1885. He had become a mem¬
ber of the Reichstag in 1884, but his membership lapsed
[ 383 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
on his becoming Secretary of State in 1886. He re¬
mained in this post until his father's dismissal in 1890,
and from 1893 was again a Member of the Reichstag.
In 1892 he married Margarethe, Countess Hoyos, and
in 1898 he succeeded to his father’s title of Prince.
BISMARCK, Johanna von (1824-1894). Daughter of
a Pommeranian landed proprietor, she married Otto
von Bismarck, 1847. Of this very happy marriage
were born three children, the Countess Marie (after¬
wards Countess Rantzau) and two sons, Herbert and
Wilhelm. She came of a strongly evangelical family,
and exercised a somewhat pietistical influence over her
husband.
BISMARCK, Otto von (1815-1898). Born at Sch6n-
hausen, near Magdeburg, he came of an old military and
legal family. His youth was spent in legal and admin¬
istrative pursuits, in the management of the family
estates, and in provincial politics, in which, by 1847,
was already a Conservative leader. He won the favour
of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV and received a succession
of diplomatic appointments. He was Minister to the
Federal Diet at Frankfort (1851-1859) and at St. Peters¬
burg (1859-1862). In Spring 1862 he represented
Prussia at the Court of Napoleon III. In the same
year he became Prussian Prime Minister. The three
outstanding points in the next and most brilliant phase
of his career were the joint war of Prussia and Austria
against Denmark in 1864, which resulted in the annexa¬
tion of Schleswig Holstein, the victorious war of Prussia
against Austria in 1866 which led to the foundation of
the North German Confederation and the Prussian
hegemony of Germany, and the Franco-Prussian war of
1870-71, which in the latter year resulted in the founda¬
tion of German unity in the Empire.
Bismarck was created a Count in 1865, became
Federal Chancellor of the North German Confederation
in 1867, and in 1871 became Imperial Chancellor of
C 384- ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Germany and received jfrhe title of Prince* After the
foundation of the Empire Bismarck’s activities in in¬
ternal politics were marked by a violent conflict with
the Ultramontanes, a quarrel with the National
Liberals who left him on the question of Protection, and
antagonism to the Social Democrats whom he provoked
in 1878 by his anti-Socialist law.
In foreign politics his Administration was marked by
strenuous and elaborate efforts to maintain peace and the
advantages secured by Germany's victories. He acted
as “honest broker” at the Berlin Congress of 1878, and
later concluded alliances with Austria Hungary (1879),
Italy (1883), and the “ reinsurance ” treaty with Russia.
In 1890 Wilhelm II quarrelled with Bismarck about
certain legislation for the protection of workmen which
the Emperor desired to see passed. Bismarck refused to
abolish a Cabinet Order of 1852 which affected the
authority of the Imperial Chancellor, and this led to his
dismissal. He afterwards lived at Friedrichsruh and
criticized the policy of his successors both in newspaper
articles and in speeches to the crowds of admirers who
came to salute him.
BISMARCK, Wilhelm von (1852-1901). The Count
Bill of the plays, born at Frankfort, he studied law at
Bonn, served in the war of 1870 as orderly officer to
General von Manteuflel. He afterwards had a dis¬
tinguished administrative career chiefly in the provinces.
He was a member of the Reichstag (1878-1881) and of
the Prussian Chamber (1882-1885). He married his
cousin, Sibylle von Arnim-Krdchlendorff, in 1885 and
was survived by one son, Wilhelm Nikolaus, and three
daughters. He died at Varzin.
BOTTICHER, Karl von (1833-1907). Born at Stettin.
After an official career in the Ministries of Commerce
and of the Interior, and also in various provincial posts,
he was elected a member of the Reichstag in 1878, and
in 1880 at Bismarck’s instance was made Prussian
C 385 ]
cc
BIOGRAPHICAL INt>EX
Minister of State and Secretary of State of the Imperial
Office for Home Affiurs. In this position, as the Im¬
perial Chancellor’s representative, he was very active and
exercised much influence. In July 1888 he replaced
Putkammer as Vice-President of the Ministry of State,
a post which he held until his retirement in 1897.
The part he took in the quarrel between Wilhelm ll
and Bismarck gave rise to much controversy.
BRAY, Otto C. Hugo, Count (1807-1899). Entered the
Bavarian Diplomatic Service and was successively Min¬
ister at St. Petersburg and Vienna. In March 1870 he
was appointed Bavarian Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and at Versailles in October of the
same year concluded the agreement whereby Bavaria
entered the German Empire, thereby demonstrating his
patriotism. He was again Bavarian Minister at Vienna
(1871-1897).
CASTELNAU. French General. Had a distinguished
military career under the Second Empire, and was aide-
de-camp to Marshal Vaillant during the Italian cam¬
paign of 1859, to Minister of War, and subsequently
to the Emperor. Napoleon III sent him on a con¬
fidential mission to Bazaine in Mexico in 1866, and at
the capitulation of Sedan he was the Emperor’s personal
representative.
DONNIGES, HfLiNE von (1846-1911). Lassalle’s ad¬
mirer. Born in Munich, her father was Baron Wilhelm
von D&nniges, distinguished as Professor of Political
Science, as the friend for many years of the Bavarian
Crown Prince Max, and as a Bavarian diplomatist. She
was a woman of unusual charm, highly gifted but ex¬
cessively romantic. Having met Lassalle in Society she
decided to marry him. Her family, however, bad selected
Herr von Rakowitz as her husband: a dud followed be¬
tween the two men iff which Lassalle foil She after¬
wards married von Rakowitz, secondly, the actor
C 3*6 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Sicgwart Friedmann, with whom she made frequent
and successful appearances on the stage, both in Europe
and America, and thirdly, Schewitsch the author. She
committed suicide with her third husband in Munich
in 1911.
DOUGLAS, Hugo Sholto, Count (1837-1912). Served
in the army (1866 and 1870-71). Founded the alkali
mine known as Douglas Hall near Westeregeln, and
was a member of the Prussian Chamber from 1882.
A friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was raised to the rank
of Count and made a member of the Council of State.
In 1888 he wrote a book entitled What we may hope
from our Kaiser .
DUNCKER, Max(i8ii-i886). Born at Berlin. Astudent
at Bonn and Berlin, he was condemned to six years im¬
prisonment for membership of the Burschenschaft, but
was released. Graduated at Halle in 1839, and became
editor of the Hallische Algemeine Literatur Zeitung and
a Professor. As a member of the Chamber of Deputies
he belonged to the old Liberals. In 1857 was Pro¬
fessor at Tttbingen, and from 1861 till 1866 was acting
political councillor to the Crown Prince Friedrich
Wilhelm (afterwards the Emperor Frederick). He was
afterwards (1867-1874) Director of the Prussian State
Archives.
EUGENIE, Empress of the French (1826*1920).
Eugenie Marie de Montijo de Guzman, born at Gran¬
ada, was the second daughter of the Count de Montijo
and Teba, Duke of Penaranda, and of Mary Kirkpatrick,
a member of an old Scottish family. Her youth was
spent in travelling, in the course of which her remark¬
able beauty attracted universal attention. She married
Napoledn III in 1853, and in 1856 the Prince Imperial
was born. At first devoted chiefly to Society and Fashion
she subsequently developed political interests and sought
to influence the Government. She frequently partici-
C 387 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
pated in Ministerial Councils, and in July 1870, as on
previous occasions, was entrusted with the Regency
during the Emperor’s absence. She believed that the
Dynasty could only be maintained by a successful war,
and, after the earlier disasters, decisively opposed the
Emperor’s return and the retreat of MacMahon’s army
from ChMons on Paris. By insisting on the march to
relieve Bazaine in Metz she made herself responsible
for the culminating disaster of Sedan. On 4th Septem¬
ber she fled from the Tuileries and spent the rest of
her long life in England. She became a widow in 1873,
and her son the Prince Imperial was killed in Africa in
1879. She died while on a visit to her native country
fifty years after the fall of her Dynasty, having lived
through the Great War.
EULENBURG, Philipp, Prince zu Eulenburg und
Hertefeld. Born 1847 at Kflnigsberg, entered the
Prussian Guard 1866, served in the war of 1870, and
afterwards travelled in the East and studied law. He
then entered on a diplomatic career, becoming German
Ambassador at Vienna in 1894. In 1902 he retired
from the Diplomatic Service owing to ill-health. He
was an intimate friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who fre¬
quently invited him to share his northern journeys.
He assisted the Kaiser in composing the hymn O Aegir y
Herr der Fluten , and was otherwise known as a. com¬
poser, poet, and novelist. Grave charges were brought
against his character which led to much scandal, and in'
1908 he was prosecuted for perjury, but the proceedings*
were stayed and no judgment was pronounced against,
him. He survived until after the Great War.
FAVRE, Jules (1809-1880). Better known as an orator
throughout his life than as a diplomatist, and famous for
his statement in 1870 that “ France would not yield to
Germany an inch of her territory or a single stone of
her fortresses.” Within a few months Bismarck was
demanding unconditionally Alsace and Lorraine. He
c 388 • ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
made, during the crisis, one blunder after another.
Having with Thiers opposed the war, he became Vice-
President of the Ministry of National Defence—and as
Minister of Foreign Affairs was as clay in Bismarck’s
hands. Among other things he opposed the removal of
the Government from Paris. He was finally discredited
and withdrew from the Ministry.
FRIEDRICH III, Kino of Prussia, German Emperor
(1831-1888). Best known in England as the Emperor
Frederick, he was born at Potsdam, and was the son of
Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, afterwards first German
Emperor, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar. He
married, in 1858, Victoria, Princess Royal of England,
and became Crown Prince of Prussia on his father’s acces¬
sion to the Throne in 1861. Though at variance with
Bismarck on the constitutional question between 1863
and 1866, he took a prominent part in the Danish and
Austrian wars, and supported Bismarck’s policy of an
immediate peace with Austria in the latter year. In the
war of 1870 he commanded the Third Army, won the
victories of Weissenburg and Worth, and decided the
victory of Sedan. From January 1871 he was styled
Crown Prince of the German Empire. After the peace,
in addition to acting when required as his father’s repre¬
sentative, he carried on his military work. He shared his
wife’s interest in culture and did his best to stimulate
educational progress, but in politics he was thwarted by
Bismarck. In 1887 he fell ill of a throat complaint which
was treated by Sir Morel Mackenzie, but grew steadily
worse. In 1888, having lost the power of speech, he re¬
turned from Italy to take up the succession to his father,
retaining in office Bismarck and the other Ministers
with one exception. His disease made rapid progress,
and he succumbed after a short and unhappy reign of
ninety-nine days.
GAMBETTA, LAon Michel (1838-1882). Born at
Cahors of a family of Genoese origin, he became an
C 389 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
advocate in Paris in 1859. He was very successful in his
profession and became conspicuous for his remorseless
opposition to the Empire in the Corps L£gislatif, where
he was the leader of the Extreme Left. In 1870 he
condemnor the frivolity with which war had been
declared but voted for the required credits. On 4th
September 1870 he became Minister of the Interior in
the Government of National Defence. On 8th October
1870 he left beleaguered Paris in a balloon and reached
Tours, where part of the Government had assembled.
He then took over the Departments of War and Finance,
assumed the dictatorship, and endeavoured to inspire the
masses with the idea of guerre a outrance and to raise
new armies. No failures could persuade him of the
falsity of his calculations. After the fall of Paris he still
refused to hear of peace, and by an unconstitutional
decree endeavoured to exclude from the National
Assembly Deputies of another way of thinking. This
decree was annulled and he resigned.
He was elected to the National Assembly by nine
Departments, led the Republican Left, and founded the
journal Republique Franfaise . During the reaction of
1877 he successfully led the opposition but did not
accept office, and refused to be President of the Republic
on MacMahon’s retirement. He contented himself with
the Presidency of the Chamber. His adherents obtained
a great majority at the subsequent election, and he formed
his so-called Grand Minister* in November 1881. He
aimed at constitutional reform and, in foreign policy, at
co-operation with Russia and England against Germany.
England declined his proposals for common action in
Egypt, and the Chamber threw out his Constitutional
proposals, on which he at once resigned. He became
mortally ill in December 1882 and died a year later*
GRAMONT, Antoine Alfred Ag£nor, Due de (1819-
1880). Was known until the death of his father as Due
de Guiche. After the Revolution of 1848 he attached
himself to Prince Louis Napoleon, whose confidence he
C 390 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
won and who gave him diplomatic employment. In
1857 h e was Ambassador at Rome, and in 1861 he went
as Ambassador to V ienna. After the plebiscite in May
1870, he was appointed to succeed Count Daru as
Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ollhfiec Cabinet. He
immediately began to carry out the a Revanche” for
Sadowa which he had prepared in Vienna with Beust.
The Hohenzollern candidature for the Throne of Spain
seemed to him to offer the opportunity he sought for de¬
claring war, the victorious outcome of which he never
doubted. His provocative speech on 6th July 1870, as
well as his offensive demands on King Wilhelm, were
intended to make war unavoidable. He succeeded in
silencing the Opposition and in making the Corps
Llgislatif vote for war. Gramont fell with the Ollivier
Ministry after the battle of Worth. In 1872 he published
a book (La France et La Prune avant la guerre) justify¬
ing his action.
HATZFELD, Sophie, Countess (1805-1881). Was the
daughter of Marshal de Castellane. She married Count
Maximilian Hatzfeld, Prussian Minister at Paris, in
1844, and was famous as the mistress of Ferdinand
I.assalle, and as the chief figure in the “ Cassette ” theft
case in 1848. J'his scandal arose in the course of divorce
proceedings between Count and Countess Hatzfeld,
during which the Copntess was consistently supported
by Laisallet She is-described by Lassalle in one of his
speeches during the case as (( the noblest of women,
brutally maligned by an unfaithful husband,” but by
one or her contemporaries as “a terrible person who
smoked huge cigars, wore thick false eyebrows and a red
wig, and who, from being Lassalle's mistress, had become
an absolute tyrant.” (Vide Htlbtt von RakewitZy
English translation, Constable, 1911, p. 74.)
HEYDEN, August von (1827-1897). German painter;
son of the poet Friedrich August von Heyden. He took
up mining as his profession and had reached the position
C 391 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
of Director of the Mines belonging to the Duke 0 f
Ujest when circumstances permitted him to devote
himself to Art* He began his studies in Berlin in 1859,
and continued them in Paris under Gleyre and Couture
in the early ’sixties. His first large picture, representing
St. Barbara bringing the Sacrament to a dying miner, •
gained a gold medal at the Salon of 1863. He there¬
after produced a series of pictures of reputation in their
day, a good deal of decorative work for public buildings
(*.£., the drop scene for the Berlin Opera House) and
some work in book illustration and industrial design.
He was an authority on costume and was lecturer on
that subject in the Berlin Academy of Art (1882-1893).
He was also the author of works on artistic subjects and
of two fairy tales illustrated by himself.
HINZPETER, Georg Ernst (1827-1907). Born at
Bielefeld, studied philology at Halle and Berlin, and
became private tutor in families of position in Western
Germany, with some interludes of teaching at the
Gymnasium at Bielefeld. In 1866 he became tutor to
Prince Wilhelm (afterwards Kaiser Wilhelm II) and
accompanied him to Cassel, where the Prince was a
pupil at the Gymnasium until 1877. In 1889 Wilhelm II
consulted Hinzpeter about the conditions of the mining
population in the Rhine provinces and Westphalia, and
in 1890 about the reform of higher education, and he
presided over the committee subsequently appointed.
In 1904 he received the title of Excellency.
KAROLYI, Aloys, Count (1825-1889). Born at Vienna,
Court Chamberlain 1852, Austrian Minister at Copen¬
hagen 1858, Minister in i860, and in 1871 Ambassador
at Berlin, Austrian plenipotentiary at the Berlin Con¬
gress 1878, Austrian Ambassador in London, 1878-
1888.
KEUDELL, Robert von (1825-1903). Born at Kdnigs-
berg, he was appointed by Bismarck to the Ministry of
[ 392 ]'
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Foreign Affairs in 1863 after an official career in other
departments of State, and after 1870 remained in close
attendance on the Chancellor as confidential councillor
of Legation. In 1869 he represented Germany at the
opening of the Suez Canal. In 1871 he was German
Minister at Constantinople, and in 1873 at Rome,
where he afterwards became Ambassador (1876-1887).
Thereafter he lived on his estates in Neumark. He was
a member of the Prussian Chamber (1888-1903), and
of the Reichstag (1890-1893). He married a daughter
of the Grand Duke Ernst of Wttrttemburg, the issue of
his morganatic marriage with Frau Natalie Grttnhof.
LASSALLE, Ferdinand (1825-1864). Born at Breslau,
son of Lasal, a wealthy Jewish silk merchant who in¬
tended him for the business. Lassalle, however, secretly
left Leipzig, where he was being trained according to
his father’s ideas, and studied Philosophy, Philology, and
Archaeology at Breslau and Berlin. The series of his
writings begins at this time, and he formed relationships
with some of the most distinguished men of his time.
In 1844 he made the acquaintance of Countess Hatzfeld,
who was living apart from her husband. He offered her
his assistance in her litigation with the Count, and in a
series of law-suits extending over a period of nearly ten
years he successfully vindicated her claims.
His relations with Karl Marx converted Lassalle from
Liberalism to Socialism. A speech at Neuss in Novem¬
ber 1848, in which he incited the people to arm, led to
a prosecution which lasted six months, but he was
acquitted. Another charge of a similar kind led, how¬
ever, to a sentence of six months imprisonment. In the
intervals he wrote his tragedy Franz von Sickingen and
other works.
In Mav 1864 he founded, at Leipzig, the General
German Workers Union, which was the foundation of
the Socialist Party* Constant agitation for the Socialist
cause had undermined Lassalle’s health and, after a tri¬
umphal reception in the Rhine provinces, he went to
r 393 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Switzerland to meet H£l£ne von Dtfnniges, with whom
he was already in association in Berlin. His relations
with this lady led to a duel with her fiance , Janko von
Rakowitz, in which he was killed.
LEBOEUF, Edmond (1809-1888). Marshal of France.
Born in Paris, author of the famous saying in 1870, “ So
ready are we that were the war to last two years not a
gaiter-button would be missing.” Served with distinction
in the Crimea, commanding the first Army Corps at the
siege of Sebastopol. Speaking in the Chamber on the
question of war or no war with Germany in 1870, he
said, “I have only one political principle—to be always
ready : whether there is war or not. That is my duty
and I shall fulfil it.” After the outbreak of war he was
appointed Major-General in the army of the Rhine. He
was deprived of this command after the reverses of
Weissenburg and Worth for alleged incompetence,
was re-appointed to the command of the third corps and
subsequently greatly distinguished himself by his personal
bravery at Noiseville and St. Priv&t. He was shut up
with Bazaine in Metz and, on the conclusion of peace,
returned to France and gave evidence before the Com¬
mission of inquiry on the surrender of that town, in
which he strongly denounced Bazaine.
LUCANUS, Friedrich Karl H. von (1831-1908). Born
at Halberstadt, he had a successful career in various
Government departments, becoming Under Secretary of
State in 1881. From 1888 he was the Chitf of the Civil
Cabinet of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
MOLTKE, Hbllmuth, Count von (1800-1891). Born in
Pommerania, he first joined the Danish, and afterwards
(1822) the Prussian, Army. After an interlude of ser¬
vice in Syria and Turkey he returned to Berlin in 2840
where he held a series of important military appointments,
becoming Chief of the General Staff in 1858* This post,
owing to Moltke’s activities, acquired (at the expense
[ 394 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
of the Ministry of War itself) the greatest possible im¬
portance both for the preparation and conduct of wan
His greatest achievements were the victorious campaigns
of 1866 and 1870, In 1866 he was made General of
Infantry, and in 1871 General Field-Marshal. He was
created a Count in 1870, and was a member of the
Federal Diet from 1867 and subsequently of the
Reichstag.
NAPOLEON III, Emperor of the French (1808-1873).
Third son of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and
Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of the Empress
Josephine. He was banished from France in 1815, and
educated in Germany. In 1836 he endeavoured to
restore the Empire by a military insurrection at Stras¬
bourg, but was taken prisoner and deported to America.
From 1838 he took up his abode in London. In August
1840 he made a second attempt at Boulogne, was again
taken prisoner and this time sentenced to imprisonment
for life. He was confined in the fortress of Ham but
escaped to London in 1846, returning in 1848 to Paris
where he became a member of the National Assembly
and on 20th December President of the Republic. On
2nd December 1851 he became Prince-President as the
result of a coup d'etat y and on 2nd December 1852 was
elevated by plebiscite to the Imperial Dignitv. In 1853
he married Eugenie de Montijo. He raised France to
the rank of a first-class power by the Crimean war, and
won new fame by his successes in the Italian campaign
(1859), but his ambiguous Italian policy, his ill-starred
expedition to Mexico (1862-1867), and the failure of
his Prussian policy lowered his reputation, which he in
vain endeavoured to re-establish by a policy of liberal
reforms. He allowed himself to be forced into war with
Prussia, was captured with the French army at Sedan,
and was a prisoner of war at Wilhclmshdhe until March
1871, when he went into exile in England. He died at
Chislehurst two years later,
[ 395 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
NIGRA, Costantino, Count (1828-1907). Italian diplo¬
matist. During the war of 1848 he served as volunteer
against Austria and was wounded. In 1856 he took part
in the Conference of Paris by which the Crimean War
was brought to an end. He was instrumental in arrang¬
ing the marriage between Princess Clothilde, Victor
Emmanuel’s daughter, and Prince Napoleon, cousin of
Napoleon III. When Napoleon III recognized the
kingdom of Italy in 1861, Nigra was Italian Minister
at Paris, and for many years he played a most important
part in political affairs there. He was Ambassador at
St. Petersburg in 1876, in London 1882, and in Vienna
1885. He represented Italy at the first Hague Con¬
ference, 1899. Nigra was a sound classical scholar,
publishing translations of Greek and Latin poems with
valuable commentaries. He was also a poet and the
author of several works on folk-lore, of which the most
important is his Canti populari del Piemonte .
OLLIVIER, E$ile (1825-1913). Born at Marseilles.
His father was banished from France as a vehement
opponent of Monarchy. He himself-was of the same
way of thinking, and was elected Commissioner of the
Republic in 1848 when only twenty-three. After a
brilliant career as a lawyer and a politician he rallied to
the support of the “Liberal Empire” towards the end
of the reign of Napoleon III, and was in the position of
Premier at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, and
actually proclaimed in the Chamber that he entered it
“ with a light heart.” Like others he allowed himself to
be completely outwitted by Bismarck, and fled to Italy ^
to avoid public resentment. He returned to France
later but never regained political power. He married
Liszt’s daughter, and was one of the first to make
Wagner popular in Paris. He was the author of
UEmpire Liberal, a lengthy and elaborate justification
of his policy.
[ 396 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
PICARD, Louis Joseph Ernest (1821-1877). French
politician. Originally a protege of Emile Ollivier, he
veered more to the Left. He founded the democratic
paper L’ Electeur Libre , and in the Ministry of National
Defence in 1870 held the portfolio of Finance. In
January 1871 he accompanied Favre to Versailles to
arrange for the capitulation of Paris, and next month
became Minister of the Interior in Thiers’s Cabinet.
Attacked by both the Monarchist and the Republican
Press he resigned in May. Later he was sent as Am¬
bassador to Brussels, where he remained two years.
RAKOWITZ, Janko von. Roumanian noble. Married
the famous beauty Helene von DOnniges, after killing her
lover, the well-known socialist Ferdinand Lassalle, in a
duel in 1864. He died of consumption after only five
months of marriage.
ROCHEFORT, Henri, Marquis dj?Rochefort-Lu9ay
(1830-1913). French politician. His father, Edmund
Rochefort, was well known as a woter of vaudevilles.
Heftri, after varied experiences as ji^edical student, as
a clerk at the Hotel de Ville, as playwright and journal¬
ist, joined the staff of the Figara in 1863, and a series
of his articles, afterwards publishers Les Francois de la
Decadence , brought his papei; into collision with the
authorities and he was dismissed. He then published a
paper of his own, La Lanterne y which was suppressed
and he was imprisoned. On his release he fought a
series of duels which kept him in the public eye. In 1869
he became a Deputy and was a member of the Govern¬
ment of National Defence in 1870, but he almost im¬
mediately severed his connection with law and order
owing to his sympathies with the Communards. Follow¬
ing this he was again imprisoned and, in spite of Victor
Hugo’s intervention, was transported to New Carolina.
Escaping en route he lived, till the general amnesty per¬
mitted his return to France, in London and Geneva,
and founded UIntransigeant. In later years, the
C 397 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Boulangist agitation, the Dreyfus case, and the Panama
Canal scandals furnished him with various points dappui.
He became a leader of the anti-Dreyfusards, and subse¬
quently edited La Patrie.
ROON, Albrecht von (1803-1879). Born at Kolberg
of a family of Dutch origin. An infantry officer
in the earlier stage of his career, he devoted himself to
the educational and technical side of his profession, and
composed several works on military topography. From
1848 onwards he held important staff appointments. In
1859 was ma( ^ e a member of the Commission on
Army Organization, and in the same year became Min¬
ister of War, in which capacity he had to defend Army
Reform in the Chamber of Deputies. In spite of
obstruction and financial difficulties he got his way.
His action in securing Bismarck’s appointment as Prime
Minister was a great service to his country. The success
of the mobilization for the campaign of 1866 and, still
more, the triumphs of 1870, gave supreme proof of his
gift for organization. He was raised to the rank of
Count, and when Bismarck temporarily resigned the
Presidency of the Prussian Ministry, Roon (who had
been promoted General Field-Marshal) was appointed
in his place. He resigned in November 1873, anc * died
six years later.
SCHLEINITZ, Alexander von (1807-1885). German
statesman. He was educated at Gottingen and Berlin,
and entered the Diplomatic Service in 1835. He
was attached successively to the Embassies at Copen¬
hagen, St. Petersburg, and London (1840), where he
was for some time charge d'affaires , and by his conduct
of negotiations of the highest importance, fully justified
the confidence of his Government. The events of 1848
prevented his proceeding as ambassador to Constantinople
where he had already been appointed. Instead, he was
sent to Hanover to decide the course that state was to
pursue against Denmark. Having successfully accom¬
plished that mission, he became Minister of Foreign
C 398 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Affairs at Berlin, but resigned owing to differences
with his colleagues after a week. In May 1849, how¬
ever, he had charge of the negotiations which culminated
in peace with Denmark. He was a vehement opponent
of Danish union and eventually resigned office on this
question. He returned to the Foreign Office under the
Prince Regent (1858-1861), and in the war between
France and Italy, which broke out shortly afterwards, he
pursued, in spite of opposition, a course which neither
guaranteed to Austria the promise of Prussian help nor
to France the promise of neutrality. He eventually re¬
signed in 1 861, but continued to serve the State in a use¬
ful capacity as Minister of the Royal Household (1861-
1865). He was raised to the rank of Count in 1879.
Possessing the special confidence of the Empress Augusta
he was always found in opposition to Bismarck.
THIERS, Louis Adolphe (1797-1877). French statesman
and historian. He studied for the legal profession but had
no success and turned to History, Politics, and Econ¬
omics. He went to Paris in 1820 and camn^&nced a
highly successful career as a Liberal journalist in opposi¬
tion to the reactionary rule of Charles X. He exercised
much influence through his paper the National, but took
no actual part in the Revolution of July 1830, though
he returned to Paris in time to draft the proclamation
of the Due d’Orlians, who became King as Louis
Philippe. Thiers received rapid promotion. He was
elected Deputy for Aix and made Under Secretary for
Finance. He became a fluent and ready debater, and in
1832 was appointed Minister of the Interior. As Min¬
ister of Commerce and Public Works he was responsible
for replacing the statue of Napoleon on the Colonne
Vend6me and for the completion of the Arc de Tri-
omphe. From 1836 to 1840 he was Leader of the
Opposition.
After the coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon, Thiers (who
was equally opposed to Bonapartism and Socialism) was
arrested and exiled for a time. On his return he devoted
C 399 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
himself to Literature, but was elected to the Chamber
by the City of Paris in 1863. In 1870 he opposed the
war on practical grounds. In 1871 he was elected Chief
of the Executive by the National Assembly at Bordeaux,
concluded peace with Germany, and crushed the revolt
of the Paris Commune. Elected President of the Re¬
public on 31st August 1871 he was overthrown on
24th May 1873 by the Clerical Monarchist Majority
in the National Assembly. His chief work is his
Histoirw'du Consulat et de VEmpire (1845-1862).
TROCHU, Louis Jules (1815-1896). Served with dis¬
tinction as a General throughout the Crimean War and
in 1866 was appointed to the French Ministry of War
for work on reorganization schemes. He published in
1867 UArmee Fran false en 1867, a work inspired by
Orleanist sentiment which brought him into bad odour
at Court. At the beginning of the Franco-Pru$sian
War he was refused a command in the field. After the
earlier disasters, however, he was apjjpinted Governor
of Paris and Commander-in-Chie?“of 5 $ forces destined
to defend the City, and after the revolution of 4th
September became President of the Ministry of National
Defence. Throughout the successive sorties against
the Germans during the siege, he gooved himself a
master of defensive tactics. His iX plan” ( <c J'ai mon
plan **) for defending the city was doomed to failure,
and when capitulation became inevitable he resigned,
having previously declared that, as Governor, he would
never surrender.
VICTORIA, Empress Frederick, Princess Royal of
Great Britain and Ireland (1840-1901). Eldest
daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Married,
1858, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. When her
father-in-law, Wilhelm I, ascended the throne in 1861
she became Crown Princess. Four sons and four
daughters were born of the marriage. She was highly
gifted and ambitious, and devoted to art. She had much
[ 400 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
to do with the foundation of an Industrial Art Museum
in Berlin, and founded many schools of Domestic
Economy. In Politics and Religion she held advanced
views. She accompanied her husband to Italy after he
became ill and nursed him devotedly till his death, after
which she was styled Empress Frederick and lived at her
castle of Cronberg in the Taunus. A riding accident
in 1898 was the cause of her last illness which termin¬
ated in her death three years later.
VIRCHOW, Rudolf (1821-1902). One of-ifre founders
of Modern Pathology and in Medicine OAe of the
greatest figures of his time. His medical career, in the
course of which he held a number of eminent professional*
positions, was occasionally embarrassed by his highly
Radical and progressive views which were displeasing
to the Government. He entered the Prussian Chamber
of Deputies in 1862 and was a founder and leader of
the Progressive PartjC He was the inventor of the ex¬
pression Ktd&rfampf^ and was in constant conflict with
Bismaftk. *He‘ was a member of the Reichstag from
i$8o tiH 1893, anc *> a P art from bis more purely medical
ajfid* political labours, he was associated with useful
measures of public health and with the foundation of
the German-Anthropological Society.
WALDECK!, Benedict Franz Leo (1802-1870). Poli¬
tician. Born at Mttnster, entered on a legal career, and
in 1848,was elected to the National Assembly. He was
jextremely energetic as leader of the Extreme Left and
as President of the Constitutional Committee, and the
Constitution came to be known as 41 Waldeck’s Charter.”
A stormy career during the events of 1848-1849 cul¬
minated in his sudden arrest in the latter year, when it
appeared that he had been concerned in schemes involv¬
ing high treason. He was, however, acquitted by a jury.
In i860 he returned to the Chamber and was one of the
greatest orators of the Progressive Party, taking a lead¬
ing part in all the controversies of the time. In the
[ 40I ] DD
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
North German Federal Diet he declared against the
Federal Constitution. In 1869 he retired from parlia¬
mentary activities owing to ill health and died in the
following year at Berlin where, in 1889, a marble statue
was erected as a memorial of his public work.
WILHELM I, King of Prussia, German Emperor (1797-
1888). Second son of Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen
Luise, born Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who was
for long a rallying point of German patriotic enthusiasm.
He took part in the battle of Bar-sur-Aube at the out¬
set of his military career which proceeded through the
usual grades until, on his becoming heir-presumptive to
the Throne, he became Prince of Prussia and General
of Infantry. I11 1848 his brother Friedrich Wilhelm IV
made him Governor of the Rhine provinces, but as the
leading supporter of Absolutist tendencies he found it
wise to quit Prussia for a time. He went to London
but returned in 1849 t0 ta ^ e command of the troops de¬
tailed to crush the Revolution, and subdued the revolts
in Baden and the Palatinate in a few weeks. He became
Regent in 1858 during the King’s illness and in 1861
succeeded his brother on the Throne. The reorgani¬
zation of the Army, which he pursued with much energy,
caused many conflicts between the Government and
Parliament. After the successful wars with Denmark
in 1864 and with Austria in 1866, the political object
of his new Prime Minister, Bismarck—freedom from
Austria—was realized, and in 1867 he became President
of the North German Confederation. In 1870 he was
the Federal Commander-in-Chief against France, and
in 1871 was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles,
WILHELM II, King of Prussia, German EmperoIu
Born 27th January 1859, eldest son of the Emperor
Frederick and Victoria, born Princess Royal of England.
After the customary academic and military career cul¬
minating in his appointment as Major-General in x88S f
he succeeded in the same year to the Throne on the
[ 402 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
death of his father. He was interested in the develop¬
ment of higher education, and waSi&ealous up to a cer¬
tain point in the pursuit of a quasi*£ocialist policy. He
was still more zealous following a forward naval
policy. After Bismarck*# retirement^ and under his
successors Caprivi and Hohenlohe, the Kaiser made
himself the actual controller of policy, and during the
Chancellorship of Von Billow and Bethmann-Hollweg,
he continued to exercise a decisive influence. The in-
spirer of foreign policy was Baron Holstein, whose
unreasoning hatred of England led to most unfortunate
decisions.
Wilhelm II married first Princess Victoria Augusta
of Schleswig-Holstein, by whom he had six sons, and
one daughter who married the Duke of Brunswick. In
October 1918 negotiations were entered into at Spa
concerning his abdication, which was announced on
9th November by the Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden.
From Amerongen in Holland, to which he retired on
10th November, he formally renounced all his rights to
the Imperial and Prussian crowns.
After the death of his first wife (1921) he married in
1922 the Princess Hermine of Schtfnaich-Carolath.
WIMPFFEN, Emmanuel Felix de (1811-1884). Earned
marked distinction as Colonel of a Turco Regiment in
the Crimea, and with General MacMahon at Magenta.
Before the disastrous battle of Sedan it was arranged
that if anything happened to MacMahon WimpfFen was
to succeed him. This was disputed on MacMahon
being wounded, by a rival General, Ducrot, but
WimpfFen produced his credentials and thus became
responsible for the negotiations which involved the
surrender of the whole French army. He was blamed
for this to the end of his life, the remainder of which he
spent in retirement in Algiers, writing books on various
aspects of the war—notably Sedan (published 1871)—to
defend his position.
[ 403 ]
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
WINDTHORST, Ludwig (1812-1891). Catholic poli-
tician. Born at Osnabrtick and originally educated
for the priesthood, he spent the first half of his life
in Hanoverian politics and public affairs, becoming
Minister of Justice in that kingdom in 1862. After
the annexation of Hanover to Prussia in 1866, he took
part in German politics and sat in the Reichstag and the
Prussian Diet from the year 1867. He was the head
of the Ultramontane Party in both these Assemblies, and
a very adroit and formidable leader of opposition owing
to his mastery of parliamentary tactics and procedure.
His diminutive figure, distinguished by a highly
characteristic head, was one of the best known and most
popular in Germany.
WRANGEL, Friedrich H. E., Count (1784-1877).
Born at Stettin, he became a soldier and won the order
Pour le M£rite in 1807 at Heilsburg. He took part in
the subsequent campaigns of the Napoleonic war, and
became a general in the early ’thirties. He was Federal
Commander-in-Chief in the German-Danish war of
1848, was promoted Field-Marshal in 1856, and in
1864 was Commander-in-Chief of the Austro-Prussian
Army. As he did not follow Moltke’s plan of campaign,
and failed to cut off the Danes in the Danewerk, he
was removed from his command. He served as a
volunteer in the war with Austria in 1866.
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